


Summer Halbarry Week 2019

by ceeloilights



Category: Green Lantern - All Media Types, The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: A/B/O, Fake Dating, HalBarry Week, Height Difference (sorta), Identity Porn, M/M, Power Swap, Soulmate AU, blue lantern!barry, childhood AU, fairytales - Freeform, injured!Barry, merman au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-08-19 19:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 37,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20215342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceeloilights/pseuds/ceeloilights
Summary: D1) Blue LanternD2) Soulmates AU - PowerswapD3) Fairytales - Childhood AUD4) Identity Porn - Fake DatingD5) A/B/O - Height DifferenceD6) Merman AU - InjuredD7) Wildcard - Wildcard





	1. Forest of Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1: Blue Lantern
> 
> Summer Halbarry week has started, and I honestly should be posting this on my Tumblr, but I feel like it'd get to more people on ao3.  
Enjoy!

The star slowly began to set around the curve of the planet as two Lanterns floated in their transparent bubble, just above a forest of flowers.

The Blue Lantern carefully choosing and peacefully picking at the colorful flowers, then, braiding their stems together into a sturdy vine as he collects more flowers to add to his creation. Occasionally glancing up at the person beside him, smiling at the exposed skin of his face that was colored by the green to blue to purple sunset.

The Green Lantern flouted beside him, holding up his work while watching the star take it's time on disappearing behind the planet, as it casts a beautiful array of colors that decorated the sky with distant stars, and blended light.

The two sat in silence, the only noise being the soft sounds of braiding stems as the Blue Lantern works with the flowers.

The petals and leaves of the giant plants gently dancing from the warm wind that blew across the planet's surface.

The planet was jam-packed full of life but could seem lifeless to a passerby. Other than the two visiting Lanterns, there was a fruitful abundance of beautifully colored plants that don't seem so important at first glance. But, if one were to take a closer look, the planet really was buzzing with life.

The smell of the planet was like no other. 

It was fresh, wild, and tangy from fruits that were grown just to drop to the ground and rot, fertilizing and planting its seed in the soil for its next-generation to grow. 

The plants furiously fighting for the sunlight they crave, which enables them to do a somewhat similar process to photosynthesizing back on Earth.

Since there were no organisms living amongst these plants, they had to find other ways to reproduce. Some would release their millions and millions of seeds into the air, having it fly around until it can land into another reproducing plant, while others take it to the roots, ejecting their seeds to crawl around and burrow into nearby plant's roots and find salvation there.

That was one of the main reasons the two Lanterns found it nicer to float in a bubble. That way, the seeds wouldn't catch onto them and cause any unwanted consequences.

Reaching out of the bubble for a second, the Blue Lantern picked a cluster of blossoms and started working them into his creation, tentatively looking up at the Green Lantern, bringing the creation away from the other's hands, and over his head.

The Green Lantern looked to his partner, catching him smiling satisfyingly as he pulls his work away from the brunette completely. Tucking the loose ends of the stems into the end of the creation, and tying the vine ends together, making it into a closed circle. Reaching out of the bubble once more, he grabbed a couple of white leaves and carefully places them between the braided stems and plant vine. Then, finally holding it up to place it on his companion's head.

The Green Lantern bowed his head and floated down a bit to accept the gift as it was placed upon his brown hair. Lifting his head back up, he smiled cheerfully at the other Lantern and leaned in to place a tender kiss to his exposed forehead, just below where his blond hair started to grow.

They both turned to face the sunset, having their faces colored by the rainbow ribbons of light bouncing around in the sky.

Wrapping an arm around the Blue Lantern's shoulders, the Green Lantern scooted closer, landing a soft kiss over the blond's temple before the Blue Lantern laid his head on the brunette's shoulder with a content sigh.

"Happy anniversary, Barry." the brunette looked down at the blond, adoring the way the black of the suit contrasted against his pale skin, while the blue of the suit matched his piercing blue eyes. A gentle smile playing on the Green Lantern's face as he nuzzles at the slightly gelled hair that was unshielded from Barry's mask.

The Blue Lantern looked up at his significant other, a soft grin growing over his lips as he admires the blue, green, and white flower crown decorating the top of his head. "Love you too, Hal." 

The Green Lantern's smile grew wider when he heard the words, his gut churned, and his heart started beating faster. An all-too-familiar feeling rushing over him as he leans closer to Barry, the speedster meeting him halfway as they share a lingering chaste kiss full of compassion.

After reluctantly pulling apart, they peacefully watched the nearest star disappear right before their very eyes. Leaving the black night sky and other, farther, sparkling stars to glimmer on their own.

Raising his hand to gently run his white-gloved fingers through blond strands of hair, Hal gazed down at Barry. His blue eyes were half-lidded now but were still filled with energy, and his Blue Lantern outfit glowing brighter than any other star Hal's ever touched.

"Barry?" Hal murmured in a low, yet soft voice.

"Hmm?" the speedster thoughtfully hummed, lifting his head to look up at Hal's dark brown eyes, that were shimmering under the millions of other star's light.

"I love you..."

The speedster felt a loving squeeze to his heart as his eyes softened and his lips turned up into a warm smile. Lifting his hand to adjust the flower crown a bit, then letting it slide down and tuck behind the brunette's ear, he tilted his head in such a way that caught the light around his head, making him look like an angel with a faint halo around his head. "I know." he simply replied, lightly dragging his hand down to cup underneath Hal's jaw, then ever-so-gently, pulling him closer to his face as they share another tender kiss together.

Under the light of a million stars, two Lanterns shared an unforgettable moment together in their transparent bubble, just above a forest of flowers.


	2. Kiss Me To Heal Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hal's accidentally switched powers with Barry that only a kiss can fix, but some trouble arises and gets them beaten and battered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D2) Soulmates AU - Powerswap
> 
> I rewrote this story at least three times now to get a good mix of soulmates and a power swap. I also have done my best to research about the injuries mentioned in this story, but if you do find something a bit off, don't hesitate to tell me!  
Big thanks to Muffinbutton18 for helping me with the food ideas, the medical information, and just dealing with me while I tried to understand speedster healing.  
Hope you all enjoy!

Blinking open his eyes, a powerful green light blinded his sight.

"Oh my--" Barry screwed his eyes shut while using his hands to shield his vision from the light.

"Barry Allen of Earth," 

Wait a second, he's heard that before.

Oh, c' mon, what did Hal do this time? It's a Saturday, why can't he have some peace and quiet?

"You have the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome, to the Green Lantern Corps." with that short introduction out of the way, the ring found his hand and forced itself onto his finger.

The speedster was having flashbacks as it did its thing.

Obviously, it wasn't the first time he's gotten the Green Lantern ring, nor was it the second time, probably won't be the last time either.

Sighing, Barry facepalmed himself with his opposite hand then looked to the ring.

"Ring, what do want?" Barry asked with a slightly exasperated tone.

Suddenly, a voice came over the ring. "Jordan? Jordan are you there?!"

"Hal, where are you?!" another voice yelled at him.

Yep, this was definitely Hal's ring.

"How do I...call them?" Barry tapped at the ring with his finger, "Uh... Call...call..." the speedster grunted. Who was calling him?

"Call...recent caller." Barry tried, getting nothing in reply.

"Uh...do I just...talk into you? Or something?" Barry asked, receiving no answer again. 

"John?" Barry asked the ring, "Guy? Kyle? Are any of you on? Hello?" Barry narrowed his brows and flicked at the ring. That seemed to help since it immediately lit up.

"What in the hell happened to Hal, ring?" Barry raised his voice to make it easier for the ring to hear him.

"Hello?" A low voice came over the ring, "Hal? Is that you?"

"Jordan?" a voice that was one hundred percent Guy Gardener's voice, came over.

"Hal? You okay?" Kyle's voice came last.

Okay, so all he had to do was talk into it. Good to know.

"Hi, umm...no, this isn't Hal." Barry answered, making sure the ring was lit up, "This is Barry, Barry Allen. Umm..."

"Barry?" they all questioned at the same time.

"Hey, yeah. So, I'm just as confused as the rest of you are." Barry twisted at the ring on his finger, "I'm not completely sure how Hal's ring found me, but it did. I was just wondering if any of you knew why it came to me?"

"He might've been on an Oa mission." the low voice answered. Okay, so that was John. Got it.

"A mission? Did he finish it?" Barry knitted his brows.

"I'm...not sure." John answered, "I haven't gotten any news on Hal entering the sector. Which I usually get when Hal comes back from a mission."

"Did Hal get stranded on a planet again?" Kyle's groaned.

"You'd think he'd learn the first seven times." Guy butted in.

"I-" 

"Green Lantern Hal Jordan located." the ring robotically announced, cutting Barry's sentence off as it started to fly away.

"Ahh! John? Uh-It's...it's trying to get away from me-" before Barry could finish, the ring launched itself into the ceiling, causing Barry to smash against his ceiling along with it.

"Oww...this ring does not like me at--ALL!!!" the ring drove forward, hitting the window and pulling Barry along to completely break the window down.

"Barry?"

"Barry, are you okay?"

Shaking his head to try and regain his bearings, the speedster quickly noticed the ground getting further and further away from him.

With fast reflexes, Barry pulled his legs up to his chest, then looked up at the ring. Barry was basically dangling off the magical weapon over what now had to be several miles above the Earth.

"Ring!" Barry yelled, "Ring! Please stop! I--Where are--are you going?!"

The only response he got was a soft green light encasing his whole form, then feeling the atmosphere start heating up around him.

Crap, was the ring gonna take him into space?

"Ring! Stop!" Barry shouted in panic, feeling himself becoming sick from being unused to being pulled up at such a high altitude in so little time, "Stop!"

Space was getting closer, or at least Barry thinks it was getting closer; he couldn't be too certain since he was starting to feel nauseous. 

His body started feeling limp, while his head started to ache horribly and his empty stomach was convinced it should throw up the acid inside his body.

He felt so sick.

He felt so tired.

He wasn't sure if the green dot coming closer was an asteroid made of kryptonite or a green star. 

What was that thing?

* * *

Slowly blinking open his eyes, the speedster felt like he'd just gotten knocked out and received a concussion because of it.

What happened? 

Looking around, Barry realized he was in his bedroom. Everything looked normal, except for the broken window.

Right, the Green Lantern ring.

Groaning, the speedster held his head with his hands to try and lessen the pain; paying little attention to the feeling of the Green Lantern ring on his finger.

The sound of a doorknob twisting and a door opening drew Barry's attention to the entrance. Creaking open a bit, someone poked their head in through the crack, "You awake already?"

"Hal?" Barry wearily questioned.

"Yeah..." Hal answered, pushing the door fully open as he strode into the room. "Sorry 'bout the..." he gestured towards his ring, "I didn't actually think it'd try and get back to me.

Hal sat on the edge of the bed next to the blond with a glass of water in his hands and a sheepish look on his face.

"Why did it-" Barry tried propping himself up, but immediately felt the blood rush from his head as his vision was blacked out. Collapsing back onto the bed, Barry closed his eyes and let out a soft moan of pain.

"You feeling alright?" the brunette stupidly asked, scooting towards the speedster.

Barry moaned again, turning his head to the side and bringing a hand up to touch his forehead with, "I've felt better."

The Green Lantern lightly chupsed, before placing the water on the bedside table and lifting Barry's head up to adjust the pillow so it could raise the blond's head without having him get up.

"I'm used to breathing thin amounts of oxygen, and the ring usually supplies me with less oxygen than others normally get since it helps save its battery. That's why when you kept going further up, you kinda..." Hal cleared his throat and reached over to grab the glass of water, "...passed out." the brunette offered Barry the water, which he gladly accepted.

"But...why did the ring come to me in the first place?" Barry gulped down his water, feeling his headache start to lessen, along with the nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach dying down. Letting out a low "Ahh..." in relief, Barry quickly reached for the ring and tried pulling it off, but it seemed like it was glued onto his finger.

"Right, yeah...that." Hal let out a long sigh, making Barry raise an eyebrow in suspicion.

Rubbing one side of his face with his hand, Hal bit his bottom lip and sucked in a breath of air between his teeth. 

'This could only be good', Barry sarcastically thought to himself.

"So, I was on an Oa mission...and...I ended up getting captured by these...umm...well, they're more like witches and wizards more than aliens." Hal twiddled with his fingers, "They're pretty chill, but they have one rule, and that's..." Hal cleared his throat, "Anyone who stepped on their planet must have a significant other, or family member with them."

Hal saw Barry's face contort into a confused expression. "Their planet is built on love and affection since the Pink Lanterns claimed the planet, but allowed the creatures living there to roam freely, except every creature has to have someone they love with them around them at all times," Hal explained, making Barry's facial expression smooth out. The blond nodded in understanding and urged Hal on to continue with the story.

"The other Lanterns I was working with had their significant other, but they failed to inform me of bringing someone, so I got tossed in jail. I tried clarifying to them that I don't have any more family members, neither do I have a significant other, and they...basically casted a spell that determined who my soulmate was...and...uh..." Hal scratched the back of his head, "So, they...kinda...switched our powers because I didn't follow their policies."

Barry blankly blinked for a few seconds, a thousand questions rushing through his head. After a moment, Barry opened his mouth but didn't know what to say, so he shut his mouth and pursed his lips.

"Are you...saying..." Barry pointed to himself, then Hal.

"Yeah..." Hal answered awkwardly, shifting a bit to lift his arm and proceeding to vibrate it, showing the blond that he had his powers.

"O-kay... So, how do we get our powers back?"

A silence rested between the two men. Hal stopped vibrating his arm and dropped it down to his side, his eyebrows narrowing together.

That couldn't be good.

"Hal?-"

"Yeah...we can't right now because they put a restriction on how long I have to have your powers, but we're supposed to… 'share a passionate kiss'." Hal quoted what the witch told him.

Another silence settled over them again, but this time it was thick and deathly. Barry's blue eyes went big, taking another swig of water since a knot of anxiety was forming in his stomach. He noted that Hal's eyes were now drawn away from his; wanting to stare at the sheets rather than the blond.

"Like...the..." Barry got Hal to glance up at him as he faintly gestured to his lips. 

Hal seemed to sink back, nodding slowly as if he was watching for some kind of harsh reaction.

Barry flicked his tongue to wet his lips; not in a sexual way, but rather in a nervous manner. The blond chewed at the inside of his cheek as he thought about it.

It really wasn't a secret that the two liked each other. Sometimes, it hurt a lot to know Barry wasn't currently in the right place to have a relationship at the moment, especially with someone with constantly fluctuating plans and work schedules. Though, the thought of having to come to terms with something they both tried to bury down and keep contained didn't sound like a Saturday Barry would particularly enjoy.

But, now that there was an awkward silence between the two, Barry guessed this weekend would be everything but comfortable. So, might as well try to lighten the mood a bit if Hal wasn't gonna do it.

"Not even going to take me out for breakfast, huh?" Barry playfully scoffed, getting the brunette to look up at him with a curious glint.

"What?"

"I mean," Barry straightened out his sitting position, "I know we've been friends for a long time, but we haven't gone on a single date."

Hal was still giving him a confused expression, but the thick atmosphere was wearing off.

"Would've thought you'd at least take me out on a date before you kissed me." 

This time, Hal's face began contorting into a smile, brushing away the last of the awkwardness between them.

"I mean," Hal started, leaning in just a little bit closer to the blond, "we can always get some breakfast at a nearby restaurant if you _ insist _ on me taking you out."

Barry started to grinned, throwing his blanket off himself and moving to get off the bed, "It beats getting sniped from a mile away."

* * *

If Barry was being honest, he didn't actually think Hal was serious on that breakfast date, he wasn't even that serious on the breakfast date himself. But, once he was done brushing his teeth and getting ready for the day, Hal told him they were going to Denny's and the whole meal was gonna be on him. 

The speedster couldn't tell what grew faster, the love he had for the brunette, or the way his stomach growled for food.

Now, the speedster and Lantern were seated in a Denny's restaurant, picking something from off the menu.

"Everything looks delicious," Barry commented, looking over the food options. Snapping his eyes to look over his menu, Barry spotting brown eyes flicking down to their own menu once they've been seen. "Whatcha gonna get?" Barry casually asked, acting as if he didn't see Hal staring at him.

"Uh, well...the spaghetti looks good..." Hal pondered, "The Tres Leche Pancakes looks good as well..."

Barry sighed, placing down his menu, then placed his elbow on the edge of the table to have his hand hang off. "You know I can always pay if you don't have the money," Barry told the brunette, eyebrows raising as he talked.

"What?" Hal laid his menu down, blinking at the other.

"I can always pay the rest of the meal if you don't have enough money to pay for it all," Barry repeated.

"Oh, no, no, no..." Hal quickly shook his head, "I have my wallet on me, I can pay. Like I said, breakfast's on me, Bear."

Barry stared at Hal for a second, a doubting look on his face getting replaced with a questioning one, "Did you just call me 'Bear'?"

Brown eyes went big while his hand went to go touch at his lips, "Did I? Sorry, I--I didn't mean that."

Barry's mouth quirked up into an amused smile, "You gave me a nickname that you didn't tell me about?"

Hal just shrugged, looking the least bit apologetic, "I say it in my mind most of the time."

"Bear?" Barry chuckled, "You call me 'Bear' in your mind?"

"Well, now that you know, I guess I can stop calling you Bear just in my mind," Hal smirked, shifting back in his chair.

"If you start calling me Bear in front of the League, then we're gonna have some issues," Barry warned him.

"That still means I can call you Bear, Bear." Hal smugly retorted.

"Bear-Bear?" the blond crinkled his nose at the name.

"Oh my god..." Hal said in awe.

"No." Barry snapped.

"Bear-Bear..."

"Absolutely not." the blond dully stated.

Hal shot Barry a sly grin, "Bear-Bear~"

"Stop." 

Hal kept the smirk on his face but put his hands up in surrender, "Okay, okay, no Bear-Bear then."

Barry sighed in relief and slight annoyance, picking back up the menu to look it over, while Hal's eyes lingered just a bit longer than necessary on the blond.

The sound of a man's voice broke Hal's eyes away from Barry, looking up at a waiter who was standing in front of their table.

"Hello, are you two ready to order?" he politely asked.

"Uhm, yes." Hal smiled, "Can I have a Grand Slam, some spaghetti, the Tres Leche Pancakes, one Spicy Sriracha Burger, some curly fries, and some mozzarella sticks? Thanks." 

Barry had to cover his mouth and bite down on his bottom lip to force the ever-growing smile, down. Looking to the waiter, he could just barely keep a straight face because of the almost impressed look that crossed his face. Almost impressed, the rest was pure shock.

The poor man.

Hal looked over to Barry once he was done with ordering, and the blond swore he saw a relieved express flash across the waiter's face for a second.

"I'll just have the Berry Pancake Puppies and some Seasoned Fries on the side." Barry handed Hal his menu to give to the waiter.

"Uh, any drinks? Dessert?" the waiter questioned with a straining smile.

"I'll just have a cold brew coffee." the brunette told the waiter, looking at Barry to pick a drink.

"I think I'll get the lemonade and a Caramel Apple Pie Crisp." the blond looked up to the man with a bright grin, "Thank you."

"Umm, alright." he took the menus Hal handed over to him, "You're dishes will be out in...a bit." with that, the man walked off.

Once he was out of earshot, Barry turned to Hal and let out a snicker.

"What?"

"Did you see that guy's face when you ordered all that food?"

Hal gave him a flat look, "No, but did it shout 'I worry for you'?"

Barry nodded with laughter in his eyes.

Hal sighed, "So, this is what it's like to have a speedster metabolism, huh?"

"Yup."

* * *

"You think they give adults those crayons and coloring sheets?"

"Are you serious?"

Hal stared at two children a table across from theirs, happily coloring in the coloring sheets they've been given since they sat down.

"I haven't colored anything in a long time."

"Hal, we're literally on a date." 

"Aww...but I haven't colored something in so long." Hal slightly pouted.

Barry touched his forehead with his fingertips showing his irritation, but his smirk said otherwise.

"Excuse me," Hal flagged down a waitress before Barry could cover his face with his hand. "Hi, can I have those coloring sheets and crayons?"

The waitress's brows slightly knitted together, trying to hide her obvious amusement as she looked at the brunette as if he were crazy. "Umm...those are for kids, sir."

"Yes, but I'm a child myself, I'm just stuck in a grownup body," Hal claimed, though he wasn't lying. He really could act like a child when he really wants to.

Barry kept glancing between the waitress and the brunette, acting as if he doesn't know who the man was when the waitress would look over at him.

After a couple of seconds, the girl started giggling, then reach into the pocket of her uniform and pull out a small box of crayons along with a folded coloring sheet. She politely handed them to Hal, which he gladly took and thanked her for. She nodded, throwing back a small wave at the two when she was called to another table.

"Barry, we have crayons!" Hal triumphantly announced, as if the blond didn't just watch that whole scene play out.

"What're gonna do with them? Eat them?" Barry smiled when Hal shot him a flat expression.

"Uh, no Barry. Just because I'm a speedster now, doesn't mean I'm gonna dive down to that level of unculturalness." Hal put on a fancy accent, “I have standards y’know.”

"Unculturalness? Is that a word?" Barry sat back in his chair, watching as Hal unfolded the coloring sheet and looked it over.

"Look, it has a connect-the-dots!" Hal pointed to the dots placed around inside a large square, completely ignoring Barry's questions.

"Right..." blue eyes glazed over the paper before landing on a word search. Gasping lightly, Barry excitedly pointed to the word search, tapping his finger on it like he was writing morse code, "Can I--Can we do the word search?"

"Hold on, wait..." Hal pulled the paper closer to him and worked on the connect-the-dots area. Drawing a line between each dot, the image came together neatly to become a simple picture of some pancakes. "Okay, what? Word search?"

"Yeah," Barry had to contain his bubbling excitement. He hadn't done a word search in such a long time, he used to love doing them on the back of the magazines that had four or fewer panels of some comic.

"Okay, I'll try finding 'Pancakes'." Hal moved the paper so they could both see it turned upright, then handed Barry a red crayon.

"I'll try and find… 'Burger'."

* * *

"And here is your Sriracha Sandwich, sir." Hal tried making room for the dish to be placed on the table but ended up taking the plate with a grin just so the waiter didn't have to awkwardly hover over their table with the sandwich.

"Are your fries good?" Hal queried, munching away at his bacon.

"Yeah, they're really seasoned." Barry held out a fry for Hal to take if he wanted to try, which he did. Taking a bite of the fry, Hal thoughtfully chewed for a moment before nodding in agreement. 

"Want a curly fry?" Hal asked, picking one up to throw it into his mouth.

"You know what?" Barry swiped a curly fry from Hal's plate, "Should've ordered a shake to dip the fries into."

"You know what?" Hal chewed, "We really should've."

The sudden crackle of the Justice League communicator went off in Barry's ear, a gruff voice spoke from the other line, "Flash, report to Coast City. We have an emergency."

Barry pushed the button to his communicator down to activate the microphone. Keeping his voice low to barely above a murmur, "What kind of emergency?"

"What?" Hal spoke up, looking at Barry in puzzlement.

The blond pointed to his com to indicated that he was using it, then heard the voice come back over again. "Some waste was dumped in the Central City port, causing chemicals to mix and create a monster."

Was he serious? As if this day couldn't get any more complicated.

"Are you sure you, Diana, and Clark can't get rid of it?" Barry sighed, knowing that there was little chance of getting off the mission.

"Clark is off-world along with Diana, I'm closing in on a case, and the creature is made of electricity, which you can turn into energy." Batman responded, sounding a bit annoyed, "Why? Are you busy?"

"Uh...no..." Barry answered. It wasn't a complete lie. He could very easily have the food to go, the problem was that he couldn't absorb electricity anymore.

Hal was the speedster now. The thing is...he wasn't sure if Hal has had his power long enough to know how to convert electricity into energy for himself.

Nibbling at his bottom lip, Barry looked up at Hal, who was wearing a concerned expression.

"Barry?" Bruce spoke up.

"Uh...yeah..." Barry hesitated.

"I presume you're busy then." Bruce assumed with a slight irritation in his voice.

"I mean--I can come it's just..." 

"Barry, please make up your mind quickly, I can always call for backup."

The blond took a deep breath, then looked up at the brunette.

"Hal?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind a little fighting today?"

* * *

Skidding to a stop by a port near the sea, Hal never thought Barry's boots could be so comfortable and bouncy, it does make sense since the guy has to run around the world at least twice a month. Though, skin-tight spandex doesn't leave space for your skin to breathe, which was a bit uncomfortable.

Once he spotted the electric monster, Hal raced towards it, dodging the cranes and automobiles in his way. "What am I supposed to do? Get near it and just sip it up?" Hal pressed on his communicator to talk to the blond who was soaring in the sky, wearing his Green Lantern outfit, glowing and everything.

"Basically, yeah." Barry got closer to the creature, dodging one of its strikes it took at the blond, "Just try and get a good grip on it and imagine soaking up all its energy."

"That's it?" Hal raced to the edge of the port, "I won't get burnt? No nothing?"

"If you really focus on pulling the energy from the monster, then it shouldn't feel like anything but a slight sting, hopefully."

The blond ducked an attack the monster threw at him, "It's really hard to dodge these attacks in normal time." Barry admitted as he tried to get the monster to have all its attention on him instead of Hal.

He had to be careful, one slap of those arms and he's gonna suffer third-degree burns, and he hasn't mastered Hal's ring enough to force it to heal him.

Pulling up, Barry risked getting hit by a stray flying spark, to avoid an arm milling towards him.

"Barry!"

"What?"

"I need you to get the monster closer to land!"

"Are you crazy?! The whole port will light on fire!"

"Well, I don't know how to stand on water and suck the life out of something at the same time!"

This man, Barry swore up and down that he was gonna be the death of him.

"Fine, but you better be quick!" Barry yelled down, flying circles around the monster until it swung at him. Maneuvering under the arm, the Lantern flew towards the shore, beckoning the monster to follow him with a few small missiles aimed toward it's sparking body.

It took the bait, sluggishly moving along to get a hit in at Barry. 

"This close enough for you?!" Barry shouted down at the brunette who was right below him.

"Good enough!" Hal took a runner's stance, then bolted forward. Running over the more shallow end of the water, as he came closer to the monster with outstretched arms.

Hal practically hugged the monster, forcing himself to focus on absorbing the electricity. 

Barry couldn't lie, the monster shrunk in size just a bit. Which honestly was impressive, considering how small Hal is compared to the creature. But, it still remained giant, no matter how much Hal stole its energy.

Suddenly, one moment Barry was distracting the monster, the next, it shredded off half its size by releasing a massive electric ball that extended out from itself and blown back whatever it touched, along with setting absolutely everything on fire.

Barry was lucky enough to have the ring instantly form a thick, protective bubble around his body to shield from the blinding blast when he pulled his arms up to cover his eyes from the light.

When the blast was over, Barry lowered his arms from his face and made a dive to the ground. Looking around for Hal, knowing he couldn't possibly have been as lucky as him.

After a few moments of finding no one, not even a single trace of Hal anywhere, Barry flew into a fit of rage.

Turning to face the monster, Barry let out a loud cry as he summoned a giant, transparent blanket over the monster, and just by a forceful downward shove of his arms, the blanket fell over the creature, causing it to struggle under the cover.

He was so glad it shrunk because he didn't think he could hold anything down bigger than how big it was already.

With a twist of his fingers, he secured the blanket down to suffocate the monster. Watching it through the blanket as it struggled to break free from underneath the cover. 

It went out much slower than a regular fire should've gone out, most likely because of all the radiating chemicals which it was made of. Yet, Barry held the blanket down until all that was left of the monster was some hot, bubbling goop of its leftovers.

Dissolving the blanket, he created a modified sponge that only soaked up the goop and chemicals that were dumped into the sea.

Once he was finished, he floated down to the ground. Picking up and moving pieces of rubble to try and find the brunette.

"Hal?!" Barry shouted, there was a sense of urgency in his voice, "Hal! Where are you?!"

Letting out a loud grunt of aggravation, Barry pulled his fist close to his face and told the ring, "Ring, take me to Hal."

Immediately, the ring lit up and started dragging the blond in a certain direction. Weaving through demolish pieces of vehicles and damage that tax dollars would probably be used for. The ring brought him into an alleyway, where Hal's body laid on top of a dumpster, unconscious, charred, bloody, but _ alive _.

Taking a closer look at the brunette, the uniform was burnt in half, showing a lot of his skin, or at least Barry thinks it was Hal's skin. One particularly long burn started from down just below his waist, crossing over his torso and chest, where the sight of what had to be part of his rib bone shown, the gash ending up slicing over his shoulder, and somehow licking up to the side of his cheek. His skin was a burnt, obsidian color; bubbling and looked like the texture of sap as it dripped in with his leaking blood, mixing to form a thick, mahogany-colored mixture.

Making a secure bubble around the brunette's form, Barry flew up from the alleyway, getting a birds-eye view on the destruction the monster created.

Multiple flames scattered around, the port was leveled for at least a mile, and the ground was burnt from the electricity.

Maybe a bit of clean up was necessary...

Shaking his head, Barry glanced over to Hal's form, watching his chest barely moving to breathe. 

Clean up will have to wait, med bay first.

* * *

It - honestly - was a good idea that they switched hero outfits, or else Hal's hair probably would've been burnt to a crisp, or dripping down his face in a custard-like drizzle.

Just because Hal was a speedster, doesn't mean a high degree burn means nothing. Especially if the heat is mixed with chemicals that could spawn a creature sent straight from Hell.

If he was being truthful, Hal looks completely disgusting healing himself - even if the only parts he could see currently was just a sliver of skin. But it was the kind of taboo image that you can't look away from and end up getting the picture burnt into your memories. Though that was normal for a forensic investigator like him, so it wasn't something to be scared about.

When Barry took Hal to the med bay, he was lucky enough to have J'onn around to aid with Hal's burns while Barry traveled back to the port and helped clean up.

Barry wasn't exactly sure how fatal the burns were, nor did he have any idea what degree Hal's burns are. Though just by the looks of Hal's half-body cast, it couldn't be good, and the fact that J'onn had to call up actual licensed S.T.A.R Labs surgeons and doctors, that didn't put a good feeling in the blond's stomach either.

A part of him felt guilty since he didn't save Hal. But, at the same time, Barry knew he couldn't just go back in time and not make it happen. So, Hal would just have to...make do with the surgeons.

The sound of the door to the recovery room opened and in came J'onn. 

The alien's stance was a bit tense, but other than that, it seemed very normal.

"Barry," J'onn took a few steps closer to the blond, "there was...something wrong with Hal when the surgeons worked on him."

"What happened?" Barry sat up straighter.

"His skin, it was healing almost instantaneously, much faster than a regular human's skin should be healing. Also, the medications we gave him were somehow not strong enough. His body didn't react to the antibiotics, the stabilizers, the anesthesia, his body seems to be cycling through it as a speedster's body would. J'onn explained calmly, "I also noticed Hal did not have his ring on his hand like he usually does."

"Ahh...yeah...that." Barry nervously shifted in his seat, "Long story short, Hal got us cursed to switch powers." Barry decided to leave out the kissing part since J'onn didn't need to know about that.

The alien's eyebrows lifted in what seemed to be shock, "I see..." he says, a spark of curiosity in his eyes, "Well, that makes much more sense now."

"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't mention that earlier." Barry apologized, glancing back at Hal to see how he was holding up.

"The surgeons didn't know what to do, and they simply assumed Hal had super healing." J'onn explained, "I was afraid to place Hal on too many medications all at once for his human body to handle. But, the surgeons requested I did since Hal burned through it too fast for them to complete their surgery. So, I had to place a power removal collar around him while they did the procedure."

A long silence settles over them as Barry looked over to Hal, his bottom teeth chewing on his top lip. 

"He's gonna be alright, right?" Barry asked, even though he was sure he knew the answer.

"Judging by how fast he healed during the surgery, the doctors assume he will be fine in about a week and a half." J'onn informed him, following the blue eyes over at the unconscious body. The oxygen mask over his mouth giving enough air to help heal his skin much quicker.

"Though, I must tell you." J'onn looked back to Barry, "Since he burns quickly through almost anything, that also means hydration."

Barry turned back to face J'onn, "Like, water?"

"Yes, lots of water," the alien nods, "but also ointment." 

"Ointment?" the blond repeated in a questioning tone.

J'onn pulled his hand from his cape, in his hand, he held a bottle of ointment. "The doctors said that since he has super healing, his skin would need more moisture to heal quicker. They also request that nothing should be spread over the skin other than this ointment for the week and a half that Hal is bandaged, especially because Hal received a skin graft over his burns."

"I have to do it?" Barry took the bottle from J'onn's hand and flipped it to look at its backside.

"Well, I do not see a reason not to. You two seem very comfortable around each other, very...close, with one another." J'onn carefully chose his words, ending with a small smile.

"I...guess?" Barry looked up from the bottle, "I never really noticed...since...I guess I'm just really friendly with everyone."

"Friendly..." J'onn softly exaggerated the word, "Yes, lots of friendly touches. Many hugs and high-fives."

Barry blinked at the alien, then raised an eyebrow, "I...mean..." Barry dropped his arm - holding the bottle - to his side, "I was just raised this way... Is...that an issue?"

"No, not at all." J'onn shook his head, and politely grinned, "It is just something I have noticed, is all."

"O-kay...?" Barry awkwardly ended the conversation, pulling the bottle back to his face, just to let himself do something.

"Yes," J'onn nodded again, "Also, I assume you know how to rub on the ointment, but if you do not, you simply place some on the burnt area and evenly massage it over the skin with your hands until all of the skin has a thin layer of ointment over it. Then, wrap it back up until the next day. You continue this every day until the surgeons come back to check up on Hal and take off his cast permanently; they will then conclude if Hal still needs ointment or not."

"Alright. Sounds easy enough." Barry turned to Hal, watching his chest rise and fall. J'onn gave a curt nod, looking over at Hal as well.

"Uh, I have a question." Barry looked back to the alien, "Since Hal has my powers, does that mean he has to continue with my powers until a week and a half passes for him to fully heal?"

"Well," J'onn tilted his head in a thoughtful manner, "If he loses his healing ability, it would take longer for him to heal, but I presume you can take back your powers without any ill consequences."

"Like, how long?" 

J'onn tilted his head from side-to-side like he was estimating a number, "Somewhere between 3-5 weeks, depending on when you choose to take your power back."

Frowning a bit, Barry's gaze returned to Hal. A wondering look glazing over his eyes as he thought about it.

If Hal had the healing, it'd go much faster and he'll be back to being a Green Lantern again. But, then Barry won't be able to do regular things, or he'd have to get used to Hal's ring at least.

"What degree burn did Hal get?" Barry mindlessly asked, still having his eyes trained on the brunette.

"The doctors said it would've been a fourth-degree burn if not for the chemicals that mixed into his wounds." the blond could hear the alien take a small breath, then continue, "They said he was suffering nearly fifth-degree burns over certain parts of his chest, shoulder, and waist."

Pursing his lips together, Barry narrowed his brows at the brunette. 

Fifth-degree burn deaths were rare, but not unheard of in forensics. So, Barry was somewhat familiar with the idea of someone getting burnt alive with a fifth-degree burn.

He couldn't say if they were painful or not, since from what he's gathered about fifth-degree burns, they go deeper down than nerves, the burn almost reaching bone levels. Meaning if Hal has a fourth or fifth-degree burn, his nerves are so crispy they're useless at that point.

Nevertheless, the healing process wasn't gonna be painless, especially if medications didn't work on him.

Of course, this is pulling out the idea of Hal just taking his ring back and mending himself with the magic of willpower.

Now that he really thought about it, he decided it'd be better for Hal to choose which path he wanted to go down since it's his body after all.

Yeah, maybe he didn't need to do all the work today. Maybe he can just relax for a second and just keep an eye on the speedster.

* * *

Barry smoothed a layer of the ointment over the burns, making sure to be as careful as possible to not accidentally lift off the skin graft.

Hal laid out before him, trying his best not to squirm under Barry's touch.

Softly trailing his fingers along the skin that hasn't been deeply damaged, the blond watched Hal as he looked up to lock their eyes together. A brief moment of silence passed between them, a lingering gaze set over the other's eyes until Barry pulled back to his heels.

"We'll get you back to the med bay at twelve tomorrow," Barry told him, going to cap the bottle and reach for a tissue from his bedside table.

The doctors confirmed that Hal could finally take his bandages off a few days ago, but they still needed to know if Hal was healing correctly, mainly because speedster healing isn't all that accurate when it goes beyond the muscle. 

Hal moved to sit up, wincing a bit when the moving caused a disturbance in his body, Barry was there to adjust the pillows to make it more comfortable.

The atmosphere has been heavy with tension ever since the incident. Hal always had a choice to go back home and take the bottle of ointment with him, but he never did. Though Barry doesn't mind, he likes having company around his house, it's almost...comforting.

"I hate staples," Hal complained, hovering his hand over the staples that held together the skin graft with his own healthy skin.

"You just have to wait 3 more days." the blond place the bottle on the table, "And you have an excuse not to get out of my bed."

Hal huffed but didn't make a move to open his mouth again when Barry lightly touched at the communicator in his ear.

Hal watched as his eyebrows narrowed and the corner of his lips turned down into a frown. After a few seconds, Barry let go of the com and sighed.

"Something happened?" Hal questioned, playing with the blanket between his fingers.

"Tsunami hit somewhere and they want a cleanup crew." Barry jumped off the bed and circled it to get to the door.

"You're going?" 

Barry gave Hal a confused glance, "Of course, I have nothing better to do." 

"Oh, alright."

The blond watched as Hal got situated in bed, shifting a bit and pulling the covers until it reaches his chest, and covered most of his injury.

"Get some sleep, okay?"

* * *

Hal heard some rustling and felt half of the bed dipping beside him.

Turning to the movement, Hal took a deep breath through his nose and settled on his side. A dark figure stopped moving for a second, then went back to getting into bed.

"Barry?" Hal mumbled with drowsiness dripping from his voice.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" the voice came from the darkened form as it sunk into the sheets.

"A little," Hal lightly grunted when his position made it so some of his staples dug uncomfortably into his flesh. Angling his waist a bit differently, the pilot's head bumped into the blond's arm as he tried to shift himself to lay on his back.

Once he got himself into a comfortable position, Hal leaned his head against Barry's arm, letting go of a satisfied sigh.

Hal didn't notice at first, but the more his head rested over Barry’s arm, the more he felt a hardness to it. Lifting his head from the blond arm, Hal twisted to get his hand between their bodies to firmly press over on Barry’s arm, causing the blond to jerk it back.

“What’s that?” Hal pulled back his arm, then moved to seat himself up.

Barry just shook his head, or Hal assumed he did, it was hard to see in this dim lighting. “It’s nothing, just go back to sleep.”

Hal narrowed his brows, scooting closer towards the blond’s body until his knee’s brushed against Barry’s thighs, “You’re terrible at lying, Barry.” Moving his hand over the blond’s torso, he heard Barry’s breath hitch as Hal slipped his hand up until he felt an extra layer under his pajamas. “What is that?” Hal squished the dense layer down under his fingers, “Barry, turn on the lights."

A hand came to rest over his wrist, ceasing his movements, “It’s nothing, just go back to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”

“It _ is _morning.” Hal spat, “Turn on the lights, Barry. What happened during that cleanup?”

“Nothing.”

“Turn on the lights.” 

There was a moment of no movement where both of them were silent and still. Hal was about to open his mouth again to tell Barry to turn the lights on until he felt Barry shift a bit. His hand moving away from the tan wrist while his body stretched to reach over to the lamp located on his bedside table.

The blond flicked on the light, blinding Hal’s eyes for a second until he could get used to the lighting. Once he could see again, the brunette nearly stumbled back in horror. 

Barry’s pale face was covered in bruises, one of his eyes was black and swollen, while a sewn cut shown itself on his cheek. His clothed body covered a lot, making it so Hal couldn't guess exactly what hid beneath his shirt, but his chest seemed to be padded down with some bandages, and the bicep Hal was leaning into was wrapped up to the elbow with bandages.

“What happened?!” Hal didn't mean to bark it out, it’s just...he’s never seen Barry with so many bruises and cuts before. It was so terrifying and enraging to look at that Hal couldn't help but raise his voice, “I thought you said it was a tsunami cleanup!”

“It was.” Barry countered defensively.

“Then how did this happen?!” Hal gestured towards the damage on his body.

Blond eyebrows knitted and his teeth came to bite down on his bottom lip, blue eyes nervously darted around before Hal took a deep breath and looked back down at the blond. The fire in his eyes was washed out, but the worry was still there. “Barry.” his tone soften along with his eyes, “What happened?”

Barry avoided his eyes, instead, his blue eyes dragged down to Hal’s chest, sweeping over the skin replacement and the slight skin difference between the brunt and healthy skin. “It was a setup…” Barry mumbled out, feeling a slight squeeze over his cast where Hal balled his hand in a fist, which pressed down on Barry’s chest.

But as quickly as his anger flashed through his face, Hal's face smoothed out just as fast. His hand uncurling and dragging up to linger just below Barry’s collarbone. 

The blond’s heartbeat quickening at the motion, the tension building between them until it was suffocating. Barry’s mouth came to hang slightly agape, his mind telling him he was out-of-breath, even if he didn't move a single muscle.

"Who did it?" Hal murmured, sliding his hand up Barry’s neck to have a light hold on the blond’s head to have him look at him in the eyes.

Barry’s eyes choosing to continue to look down at Hal’s body instead of his face. He was nervous, but could anyone blame him? His friend was looming over him with a half-lidded expression, asking who hurt him as if he was going to take vengeance.

“I...I don’t…”

“Bear…” Hal’s voice dipped down to become low and rough with a slight pleading tone to it.

Curling his fingers into the blanket, Barry realized how close their faces were. How easy it would be to just lean up and switch their powers. “It was Eobard.” Barry breathed, noticing how Hal lowered himself, his chest now touching Barry’s bandages.

Before Barry could utter another word, Hal’s lips were pressed up against his. Two pairs of eyelids fluttered shut as they basked in the kiss. A tongue coming out to swipe at some teeth that were lightly biting at a pale bottom lip. The teeth lifted to have another tongue dart in and lick around the other's mouth.

Hal pulled back, tilting his face more and angling himself at a pleasant angle, then locking their lips together once again. The blond feeling a tan hand tangling through his short strands of blond hair as his wounds start healing themselves and the ring on his finger started to slide off.

Hal swallowed a gasp before getting pushed back and off the speedster. “Hal!” Barry cried out, touching at his chest and face to feel all his injuries healed, “Hal I thought...thought you wanted my healing powers to--”

“My burns are fine.” Hal lightly brushed his fingertips over his ribs, lifting his hand so his ring could slip onto his finger, “Besides, I can't stand seeing you with...so many bruises and...cuts.”

“Hal…”

“I’m sorry if you wanted to keep my powers for a few more days, I just-”

“No, just--c’ere.” Barry outstretched his arms for Hal to crawl into, then embracing him while whispering a soft, “Thank you.” into his ear.

* * *

“You do not have your healing powers anymore, is that correct?” 

“Yes.” Hal nodded, quickly glancing at Barry, who was beside him.

“Well, since you don't have your healing anymore, I’d advise you to avoid fighting for at least a week but continue to try exercising your shoulder, torso, and hips until then,” the woman cleared her throat, “which I hope your orthopedic therapist is doing with you on the daily?”

“For an hour, yes.” 

She looked back down at the paper in her hand, her eyes moving up and down. The two heroes share a look that was somewhere between worry and hopefulness.

“Alright.” the doctor looked up from the paper, “Since you’re getting better, you can shorten the visits down to 45 minutes if you’d like to. It’s your option, but if you want to, you’ll have to tell me so I can inform them.”

“I think I’ll change it to 45 minutes,” Hal replied, getting a curt nod before she reached for a pen and scrawled something down on a post-it note.

Barry simply sat to the side, looking from the doctor to the pilot. In all honesty, he had no idea what he was doing in the doctor’s office with Hal, he had no reason why he offered to go with Hal to the doctors in the first place other than to keep him company.

“Okay,“ she responded, “I’ll give them a call before you see them today.” sticking the note to her computer, she turned back to the Lantern, smiling. “I think that’s all for today unless you have some questions?”

“Umm…” Hal looked over to Barry, silently asking if the blond had anything to ask. Barry just shook his head, making him look back to the doctor, “No, not right now.

“Alright, just call if you have any,” she told them as they got up from their seats.

“Of course.” Barry smiled, helping Hal steady himself as he stood up from his chair.

“Thank you, have a nice day.” he waved back at her before Barry opened the door to the office. She waved back with a grin until the speedster closed the door.

Straightening his posture, Hal gently touched at his side while Barry stood beside him to make sure he didn’t fall, or trip, or do some dumb move to rip off his skin.

“So,” Barry started, “What’re you gonna do with the extra time you have with 15 minutes cut from your physical therapy?” 

Hal smirked at him, “I was thinking of spending some more time with my soulmate.”

The blond seemed to shrink a bit under the words, the corners of his lips curving up as his eyes twinkled in coyness, “He’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Muffinbutton18 again!


	3. Gem To My World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hal and Barry are adventurers who are on a quest to return the Gem of Life to the two queens of the world. But, whether they're running from danger or eating snacks, they'll always find comfort in each as they make it through the tough life of being a kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D3) Fairytales - Childhood AU
> 
> This was one of the hardest stories to make, as well as one the longest, mainly because I had to train myself to wonder what a child would conjure up in certain made up, but dangerous situations. Giant thanks to barryshal for beta reading, it means so much to me, and you did a wonderful job at catching my mistakes.  
I hope you all enjoy!

"Run!"

The wind around both of them picked up as the dragon flapped its wings. Loose debris falling around them like a tornado was carrying sticks and leaves.

"Look out!" Hal pointed ahead, where angry unicorns galloped towards them.

"Call the wolves! They're our only hope!" Barry shouted, too busy looking behind him to see the root protruding from the ground.

"Barry!" Hal screamed, grabbing Barry's elbow and pulling the blond towards him. Barry stumbled into Hal's body, but quickly gained his footing and kept at Hal's pace.

"The wolves, Hal! Call the wolves!" Barry yelled as they halted near the edge of the cliff.

There was nowhere to run, nowhere to go.

Quickly, Hal pulled the dog whistle from his cloak and blew into it, making a high-pitched, screeching sound. While Barry pulled up his shield to defeat them against the dragon's fire attack, and barely managed to pull Hal out of a unicorn's laser beam, and behind the shield.

"How long is that going to hold up?" Hal gestured to the shield.

"Hopefully until the wolves come!" Barry's grip on Hal's arm loosened when he had to use all his strength to hold up the shield, "Which is soon, I hope!"

"There!" Hal shouted, pointing off the edge of the cliff, at the pack of black, white, and grey winged wolves, "We have to jump!"

Hal grabbed tight of Barry's hand, intertwining their fingers together like his mom and dad does when his dad came back from a test flight, then, he jumped.

Barry was right behind him, jumping right after Hal did, and screamed at the top of his lungs when they fell several hundred feet. Hal pulled Barry closer to him, so they could land on the same wolf.

The wolves spotted the falling boys and came zooming towards them. 

A black wolf caught Hal on its back, pulling up to get more air. Hal tried pulling Barry up and onto the wolf with him, but Barry was too heavy.

"Hal!" Barry shouted when their hands started slipping.

As if on cue, a grey wolf came to Barry rescue, pulling up beside the black one, and giving Barry a place to sit on as the pack flew away from the dragon and unicorns.

Hal sighed in relief, leaning down to rest his body on the wolf's fur, wrapping his arms around the wolf's neck, "We did it, Barry. We did it..."

A warm, easy smile crawled onto Barry's face as he nodded, feeling for the precious gem in his leather satchel before fully relaxing on the wolf. 

Pulling their hands apart, Barry brushed away some ash from Hal's temple and cheek, then went to wipe the shiny sheet of sweat from his forehead.

"Yeah, we did."

* * *

"Barry!" a familiar feminine voice came out calling for the blond, "Get down from there! You might fall and injure yourself! And get dressed! You don't want to see Iris and Carol looking like you came out of bed, do you?"

"Coming mom!" Barry shouted back. Turning to the brunette, who was still lying upon the tree branch on his stomach, "C' mon Hal, let's go and return the Gem of Life to the queens."

Lifting himself off of his stomach, Hal smiled brightly at Barry with a - fairly - toothy grin, part of his tongue sticking out from behind his teeth where a tooth got pulled out of his mouth and hasn't had enough time to grow in just yet. "Do you think she will give us a prize because we got the gem back?"

Barry lifted one of his legs over the tree branch he was straddling, finding another one lower on the tree to make his descent down the tree. "Maybe... Maybe she'll kiss us on the cheek."

"Ew, I don't want Carol kissing me. Not even on the cheek." Hal's nose wrinkled in disgust.

"I meant the other queen." Barry carefully took another step down, looking up to see Hal making his way down as well. His tight grasp on one of the tree branches slowly released, and fingers quickly wrapping around another branch underneath the other one. 

"Still, I don't want gross girls touching me. Cooties are disgusting." Hal was less cautious, jumping down several tree branches before landing on one and grabbing hold of the tree trunk to stabilize himself.

Barry gave a weird look at Hal, then started giggling, causing the brunette to look up at him. "What?" he inquires.

"Nothing," Barry tried to suppress his giggles, "Just that, you still believe in cooties."

Hal playfully rolled his eyes as he looked back down at the ground. "I don't believe in them, it's just an excuse for me to say that I don't want those girls touching me."

"Should've said it was disgusting then." Barry half-heartedly shrugged while looking to see how far he was from the grass.

Squinting at the ground, Hal tilted his head in a way that looked like he was thinking, then turned to Barry. "Bear, I'm gonna jump and land on my feet; watch me! Watch me! Watch me!"

Barry glanced up at Hal, looking down again and calculating how far of a jump it would be from where Hal was standing, to where the ground was. He looked back up, seeing Hal start to fully stand up. "Hal! Don't do it! Just climb down! The ground's too far!"

"Look at, Barry! Look at!" Hal slowly began letting go of the tree trunk.

"Don't do it! You're gonna hurt yourself!" Barry yelled, his grip tightening on the branch he was holding due to the spike of stress he was gaining.

"So?" Hal scoffed, "At least I'll look cool!"

"Not when you're gonna land face-first into the ground! Hal, don't do it! Just climb down!" Barry begged, his heart starting to beat harder in his chest when Hal took a few steps on the branch he was standing on to steady himself, "Hal! Don't do it!"

"Watch me, Barry! Are you watching?" Hal licked his lips, a smile cracking his face in half, more than it should be. 

"Don't do it!" was the last thing that came out of Barry's mouth before Hal did it.

Springing up and off the branch, Hal launched himself a few inches forward from the branch, folding his legs to his chest as if he were going in for a cannonball in the pool. The only thing he could feel was the rush of adrenaline in his veins, the wind around him tickling at his skin and lifting his hair, and the branches that stuck out and dug into his flesh as he made his way down. Seeing a blur of green and brown as he fell, and the sound of Barry's high-pitched screaming of his name. 

Once the ground was in his full range of view, Hal let go of his legs, having them bent until they hit the soil at the bottom of the tree, where he sprang up with his arms above his head for balance, and to show his triumph. After a few breaths, Hal looked up at Barry for a reaction, pulling his arms down to his side in the process. "So?"

Barry's expression was plain horror for a few seconds until he hastily shook his head and shot Hal a flat look.

"What? Too plain of a landing for you?"

Barry quickly made his way down the tree, making sure to not get his loose pajamas caught on any branches, and landing - safely - at the bottom with his skin in tack. The same couldn't be said for Hal though.

"Look at you! You're bleeding!" his tone differentiated from Hal's mother by the way it sounded more worried than disappointed. Barry motioned over at Hal's bicep, where there was - indeed - blood dripping from several scratched from branches that managed to reach out and break some of Hal's skin by their vicious claws.

"Ohhh..." Barry worriedly breathed, reaching out to take Hal's arm in his hand to look over the injury more closely, "Come on, my dad has a first aid kit in the bathroom; I can change and we can bandage the cuts in there."

"It's not  _ that  _ bad." Hal murmured, going to rub at it and hissing at the pain of moving his other arm.

Barry circled him, inspecting at the other arm, where a deeper gash spewed out blood, and small splinters could be seen around the cuts, "C' mon, let's clean that up."

Barry places a hand on Hal's back, leading them to the backyard screen door. Opening the door and letting themselves in, Barry shut the door and maneuvered the both of them through the house without turning any heads. Their parents were in the living room, while Hal's brothers were somewhere in the front yard.

Climbing the stairs, they passed Barry's parent's bedroom door before making it to the bathroom. Pushing the door open, Barry seated Hal on the lid of the toilet seat. Closing and locked the bathroom door, Barry hurriedly ran some warm water and grabbed the darkest towel he could find on the rack - just to make sure Hal's blood wouldn't stain the towel - then doused it in warm water. After it was thoroughly soaked, Barry squeezed out any excess water and gently placed it on Hal's scratches; proceeding to repeat the motions with another towel and placing it on Hal's other arm.

"Ow." Hal flinched as it was placed upon his splinters.

"Sorry," Barry apologized as he added pressure onto each cut and scrapes to ensure they'd stop bleeding; then, lightly dabbing at them to clean out any unwanted dirt.

Afterward, he draped the towels over Hal's arms and went to go grab a cup as well as a first aid kit. Opening the mirror to find that the shelves were too high to reach, Barry went to climb up on the sink to reach the first aid kit, then safely climbed down with the treasure in his arms.

Filling the cup with warm water, he pulled open the first aid kit and dropped a pair of tweezers into it. Barry ripped open a disinfectant wipe, removing the towel from Hal's arms, and wiping away any remaining grime lurking near, or on the wound. 

Hal bit on his lip to refrain from whimpering or complaining, but it didn't stop him from expressively flinching. Barry noticed, and instead of telling Hal how much he shouldn't have done what he had done with a disappointed tone, the blond simply apologetically smiled at Hal, whispering 'sorry's as he cleans.

When Barry was done with both arms, he went to grab the tweezers from the cup, pulling out another disinfected wipe and drying off the tweezers. Then, grabbing Hal's arm to still any of his actions, and picked away any splinters that got embedded into his skin.

After pulling every last piece of wood out and checking to make sure he got all of them from both arms, Barry placed the tweezers back into the cup and went to fetch some bandages. Carefully trying to remember what his father taught him, he picked out two kinds and grabbed the ointment tube along with a clean q-tip.

Sliding back in front of Hal, Barry squirted some ointment on the tip of the swab, and swiped it on each of Hal's deep cuts, and rubbed it over the red scrapes.

Opening the band-aid packaging, he places a large fabric bandaid over the scrapes and applied butterfly bandages over the cuts.

"What's that?" Hal pointed at the oddly shaped medical material.

"It's a butterfly bandage." Barry worked as he explained, "My dad said people use them to keep cuts and make them heal properly."

"How come I can't just use a normal bandaid?" Hal asked, feeling a bit stupid under Barry's knowledgeable brain, and even more dumb by asking a question about medical stuff of all things.

"Cuts should be exposed to air for them to heal faster." Barry simply answered as he smoothed out each bandaid.

"But, what about this then?" Hal pointed to his scrape, now covered by the fabric band-aid.

Barry ran his hand over the bandaid as he talked, "Scrapes should be fully covered because that keeps moisture your body makes on the scrape, and that makes the scar smaller. That's why I used a bandaid that's like--it's sticky on all sides." Barry used his index finger to circle the cottoned area of the bandage.

"Oh, cool." Hal ran his hand over the bandaid before looking up at Barry, "Barry? Shouldn't you be getting dressed now?"

"Oh, yeah." the blond looked up from Hal's arm and sheepishly grinned, turning back to the sink where discarded bandaid wrappers, some tweezers in a cup of warm water, and a first aid kit, laid.

"Do you want me to clean up?" Hal offered, knowing he probably should help after Barry did all of that work to help him.

"Umm..." the blond gathered the wrapped and crumpled them up in his hand, "No, it's okay. But, can you go into my room and get my clothes? They're already on my bed so you'll see them."

Hopping up from the toilet seat lid, Hal gleefully said, "Okay!" then unlocked the door and snuck out from the bathroom, strolling to Barry's room and finding a pile of neatly folded clothes lying in the middle of a nicely made bed.

'Of course, Barry made his bed in the morning.' Hal thought as he entered the room and was engulfed in a stronger scent of Barry, which was - unsurprisingly - very calming to inhale.

Hal grabbed the clothes off the bed, holding them close to his chest. Not because he wanted to sniff them...but, it did bring Barry's scent much closer to his nose, which he enjoyed. 

He felt at his bandages under his fingertips, hoping his mom wouldn't notice, or she'd go crazy. Giving Hal a lecture on being safe and threatening to make him help his brothers for a full week.

"Stupid." Hal breathed under his breath, now hugging Barry's clothes to his chest as he made his way back to the bathroom.

Stepping foot onto the tiled floor, Hal began rambling for no reason in the slightest. "Bear, if my mom sees that I got hurt, she's gonna bake me in the oven and eat me for lunch." Hal shut the door and locked it as he handed over the clothes to the blond, "Here ya go."

"Uh--what?" Barry's ears perk up and his brows knitted with worry and concern, "Oh, thanks."

"No problem. Anyways, my mom's gonna kill me if she knows I hurt myself." Hal said, nonchalantly, "She's going to ground me and make me obey my brothers or something."

"I don't...think your mom wants that...?" Barry frowned, unbuttoning his striped pajama top, "Why would she do that to you for...getting hurt?"

"I don't know!" Hal exclaimed, "She's just like that! She talks to me like I'm a child, and gets mad that I fell or something."

"I think she just doesn't know how to show that she loves you, but is sad that you hurt yourself at the same time." Barry pulled on his sleeves to fully remove his shirt, then grabbed at his Flash shirt.

"No, she doesn't like me." Hal shook his head in disagreement, "She yells at me and makes me sad..."

Pulling his head and arms through the t-shirt, Barry's opened his mouth to try and prove the statement wrong, but all he got out was, "I'm sorry..."

Hal looked down at his hands, glancing back up as Barry pulled off his pajama bottoms, and making a grab for his cargo shorts.

"Barry?" 

The blond looked up to meet brown eyes, as he reaches out to grab at the sink to keep his balance. "Yeah?"

Hal frowned a bit while fiddling with his fingers, his brows narrowing at the floor as thoughts floated around his head.

"Do you...do you think I'm...like--do I matter?" Hal poked his two index fingers together, nervously looking around at the floor.

"Why would you ask that?" Barry wondered in curiosity.

"I dunno..." Hal shrugged, his shoulders sagging a bit when they dropped, "People keep on talking about how big everything is, that sometimes...sometimes I kinda feel small..."

Buttoning up his shorts, Barry frowned at his best friend. Taking a step closer, Barry got Hal to look up at him, then gave him a big smile and said, "You might be small to the world, Hal. But, you're a part of my world, and my world would be nothing without you. Now c' mon, I'm all dressed up, and we need to meet with the queens."

Barry lent a hand to Hal, which he gratefully took and got pulled to his feet. They smiled at each other for a second, Hal's smile surprisingly a bit sheepish than Barry's.

Unlocking the door, they both peeked out to see if anyone was around, then made their way to the stairs. Noting that no one was nearby, Barry turned to Hal and grinned, "Let's slide down the railing!"

* * *

The wolves gracefully flew down to the ground below; their wings expanding more to catch more air and flouted until their paws touched the rigid soil.

The two adventurers hopped off of the winged creature's back. Hal went around to pat each pack member's fur with a grateful smile to show his thanks, while Barry pulled out the map stored away in his satchel to see where they were.

Blue eyes went big once Barry noticed that they were in a forbidden place on the map.

"Hal?" Barry asks with a high pitched tone in his voice, "We're at the Forest of Doom."

Hal stopped rubbing at one of the wolves' fur to look up at Barry with slightly narrowed brows. "You mean...the forest where no adventurer has ever escaped alive?"

Barry just nodded in response, too nervous to use his vocal cords. He looked back down at the map to make sure, then back up, surveying the plants around them, "And it seems like we're right in the middle of it."

There was a silence between them, where only the whispers of the wind and echoes of dark spells could be heard around the wolves and heroes. Then, Hal whispered, "Awesome..."

Barry shook his head and gave a shocked - mixed with confused - expression at his partner, "We're not gonna make it out alive!"

"Relax, Barry." Hal swatted his hand around to dismiss the blond's statement, "We can just fly out of here."

"No, we can't." Barry sighed defeatedly, "The spells cast around this forest prevents any type of traveling - other than on feet - completely impossible."

"Psh-yeah right," Hal looked to the alpha of the pack, they both shared looks before the grey-furred wolf spread its wings, and began to flap.

After a few seconds, all they got was wind. Hal groaned as he facepalmed, while the wolf stopped trying. 

Mumbling something incoherent, Hal placed a reassuring hand on Barry's shoulder, "Look, we've fought deadly unicorns, flew away from fire breathing dragons, gone all the way to the Crystal Cave to retrieve back the Gem of Life; why wouldn't we be able to conquer some forest?"

"It's not just  _ some forest _ , Hal." Barry dusted away Hal's hand from his shoulder, "It's a maze, a test that rivals every single person's wits, a challenge that no one has ever solved. The Forest of Doom is no joke, especially because no one has ever gotten out alive."

"So, you're telling me, we can make it out dead?" Hal smirked when Barry frowned, knowing full-well that it wasn't the time for joking, "Listen, if we survived jumping off a cliff while getting attacked by deadly creatures, I'm  _ sure  _ we can make it through this forest; and if anything, we have the wolves to protect us from any predators that want to mess with us. Besides, Challenge is our middle name." Hal leaned against one of the pack members, with a smug grin.

Barry nervously chewed at his lip, not fully feeling that Hal understood how dangerous the forest was. But, Barry trusted Hal enough to breathe out a sigh, and nod, "Yeah, yeah, maybe...maybe we'll be the ones to make it out alive."

Hal's grin became gentler and happier as he grabbed Barry's wrist and pulled him closer to his body, while the wolf pack made sure to surround the two to protect them and have eyes and ears in all directions.

"There isn't a 'maybe' in my name, Barry." Hal mumbled into the blond's ear, then pulling away before he stated, "We're making it out of here alive!"

Barry frowned to cover up the sudden happiness he got from Hal's sudden outburst, then blew a short raspberry at his friend, before pulling away and having Hal lead the way.

* * *

Making their way through grown-up legs, the two children run outside to the front yard, where Hal's brothers were playing.

"Let's sneak up on them," Hal whispered to Barry.

Stealthily, they tiptoed closer to the two brunette's then... _ POUNCE _ !

Hal jumped onto Jack's back, catching his older brother off guard and making him tumble into the grass. Barry simply tapped Jim on the shoulder and said 'Hello', too scared to hurt the younger Jordan.

"Get off me!" Jack shouted, wrenching Hal's grip away from his hair. He struggled to sit up, but immediately fell back down and crashed Hal's spine into the dirt.

"Ow!" Hal let go of his brother and laid flat on the ground, his back feeling like he just broke it.

"Hal!" Jim and Barry shouted, running up beside the injured brunette.

"Are you okay?!" Jack kneeled beside Hal's body, turning him over to look over his back.

"Augh...think you broke my back..." Hal grunted out.

"I did not." Jack rebutted, lifted Hal's shirt to look at the damage. His back looked perfectly normal, other than a few healed scrapes here and there from probably a few weeks ago, "You look fine."

"My back's broken!" Hal wailed as Barry glanced over the damage.

"You're okay, Hal." Barry looked to the brunette and lightly patted at his hair to comfort the boy.

"Do you feel okay?" Jim squatted near Hal's face and asked as he chewed on his thumbnail.

"No, I feel like I just broke my back!" Hal yelled.

"You deserve a broken back after what you did." Jack huffed, turning Hal back so his brother was facing the clouds.

"No, I don't." Hal shook his head, not attempting to sit back up.

"Yeah," Jack stepped closer to Hal's face, "you do," he said as he pulled the boy up until he was in a sitting position.

"Ow." Hal flatly stated when he was forced to sit up.

At that moment, the door to Barry's house swung open, and all the grown-ups came walking out of the house.

Jack let go of Hal and turned to run up to his mother, while Jim ran up to his father with outstretched arms.

"Hey, kiddo!" Hal's father picked up Jim in one swift motion.

"C' mon you two, we're walking to the park." Barry's dad informed them both.

Hal and Barry turned to each other, an exciting knowing glint in both their eyes.

* * *

As they progressed further into the forest, the canopy became denser. The soil becoming more thick and moist against their boots as they tracked their footprints wherever they walked.

"I hate wandering blinding around a forest known for being dangerous." the blond simply commented, hands clutching to his satchel as he seems to go on high alert.

"But don't you like the feeling where it's super exciting, because you don't know what could happen? Like, something could happen to us right now." 

"That doesn't make me feel any better." Barry shook his head, he made sure to keep up with Hal and try not to get too distracted by the overgrown plants and colorful insects. But, he didn't need to notice too much, since a grey wolf walking behind the both of them, would poke Barry with its nose when the blond got off track.

In the distance, they could hear a bird cawing; the sharp edge to its call filling a sense of fear into the blond, yet he knew with the wolf pack and Hal by his side, there was a low chance of anything want to mess with them. Still, a part of him couldn’t help but imagine the worst possible things happening, where none of them would make it out alive.

Bumping into Hal's back, Barry realized they stopped in front of what looked to be a giant puddle, or maybe it was a lake. Whichever it was, it was standing in the way of solid ground on the other side.

"Quicksand," Hal stated simply as he stared at the giant puddle. Glancing around, Hal caught sight of a thick vine hanging loosely over a tree branch, it was dipped into the quicksand, but he could easily use it to drag himself to the other side of the quicksand lake, then throw it over to the wolves and Barry to haul them to the other side as well. 

“Wait here,” Hal told the blond, taking a step back, then launching himself forward and jumping when his foot reached the edge of solid ground.

* * *

“Hal!” Hal’s mother shouted at him after he splashed into the mud puddle, “Stop that! You got your clothes dirty! Look at yourself!”

“Oh come on Jess, he’s just having some fun.” Hal’s father lightly defended Hal, watching as he took big steps across the mud to make it the other side, “He’s just being a kid.”

* * *

Tugging the vine off the branch and out of the quicksand, the brunette tied a rock to one end of the vine, then threw it over to Barry.

The blond caught the vine, passing it down to the last wolf, and looking back up at Hal. His partner nodded, signaling he had a sturdy hold on the vine, before Barry stepped into the quicksand.

Hal tugged the vine towards him until the blond - along with the wolves - made it back onto land. Offering the blond a hand, Barry grabbed Hal’s outstretched palm until he was fully pulled out from the quicksand. The wolves got out much easier, shaking their fur coats for a pathetic attempt to get rid of the thick, soupy soil off themselves.

“Don’t worry guys, we’ll find a water source to clean us up.” Hal let go of the vine once everyone crossed, looking down at his palm to see they colored a rose-red because of the tight hold he had on the plant.

“We better find one quick.” Barry dragged his fingers into one of the wolf's wings, dragging his hand back to get rid of the thick coating of quicksand, “The soil can harden and-”

* * *

“Are you done?” Jack impatiently groaned, “We aren't even halfway to the park yet.”

Hal shot Jack a look irritation, then look back at Barry. Sighing, Hal made a motion to get Barry to follow him. Yet, he was the one who hung back, waiting till Barry was right beside to mumble out, “The goblin is attacking.” causing the blond to quietly breath out a laugh.

* * *

Climbing up the tallest tree, Hal tried to scan around the area to see if he could see the end of the Forest of Doom.

“Be careful!” Barry worriedly looked up at the boy. He knew Hal could climb - pretty well actually - but the image of Hal simply free falling from the other tree was burned into his mind.

“I’m fine.” Hal weakly assured, scouting the area, twisting his torso until he spotted an end to the forest, and in the distance he could just barely make out the Queen’s castle, causing his mouth to drop open at the sight. 

“Barry!” Hal shouted down, jumping off his branch and landing on the dirt ground.

“Hal!” Barry rushed to the brunette’s side, helping him dust himself off even if there wasn't a trace of dirt on him, “Oh my gosh, are you okay?!”

Hal waving off Barry’s hands, “I’m okay, I’m okay.” he seemed to huff, “But, the end of the forest is just up ahead, we can make it out and get to the castle!”

“Really?” the blond’s voice was full of awe, “Are you serious?!”

“Yeah,” Hal laughed, “It’s that way.” he pointed north of the tree, “C’ mon guys!” gesturing for the pack to follow him, Hal dove into a bush, pushing away the leaves and branches in his way.

He heard the sounds of Barry and the pack following right at his heels as he burst out the bush to stumble into a spiderweb and some vines. Peeling off the web, Hal just nearly caught himself before he would trip over the vines and hit his head against a tree’s trunk. He paused for a brief second, glancing behind him to see if the others were following. Once he knew they were, Hal continued to make his way towards the exit. 

Ducking under a branch and hopping over a tree root protruding from the ground, Hal stopped himself just in time to hold his balance on the edge of a pit of lava.

Backing up, Hal looked up to see that the exit to the forest was just on the other side of the lava pit.

Hearing the sound of feet screeching to a halt behind him, Hal peered over his shoulder to find Barry trying to look over his shoulder.

“What is it?” Barry asked, head tilting to look around the brunette's form.

“A lake of lava,” Hal told him, taking a few steps back from the bubbling magma.

“Wait, what?”

* * *

“What?” 

Barry snickered, “I don't think lava can be in a forest, Hal.”

“What? Why not?” Hal frowned, turning his back to the sandbox.

“Because then it’d burn down the whole forest.” 

Hal pouted, “Well, what’s the danger then? Poisonous mushrooms that’ll give me a rash if I fall in?”

“I mean, that is pretty scary.” Barry shrugged with an amused grin.

“Aww...no… Barry that’s boring though…” he whined, “What about like, surface lava?”

Barry looked up at the sky in a thoughtful manner, tapping his index finger on his chin, “I mean...maybe the Forest of Doom could be named the ‘Forest of Doom’ because...there’s an active volcano close by.”

Hal loudly gasped then happily clapped, “Yes, yes, yes! Yeah! Yeah! Let's make a volcano blow up!”

“Uh, yeah, okay. A volcano can erupt.”

“Wait, so...can the lava lake still be there?” Hal wondered.

“Uh…” Barry thinks, “I guess? I mean, we can if you wanna.”

* * *

“It’s a lake of lava.” Hal dramatically turned around.

The sudden rumble of the Earth shook the ground so hard the two adventurers had to hold onto the plants around them, while the wolves tried steadying themselves on their feet.

The lava in the lake splashed around in the pit, threatening to spit out and onto them.

“We have to jump!” Hal shouted.

“Are you crazy?” Barry yelped when a small splash of lava almost reached his boots, tightening his grip on the branches above him until his knuckles were white, “We’ll never make it all the way across!”

“Maybe not by ourselves, no…” Hal dug his heel into the loose soil and dragged himself closer to the wolves, “Guys, can you guys spread your wings?”

The wolves glanced around at each other as all of them tried opening their wings. After a few seconds of all of them trying, it turned out none of them could because of the quicksand that solidified over their feathers.

The brunette grunted in frustration, looking around to see if he could use anything else to cross the lava pit.

* * *

“Barry!” 

The two turned to see Barry’s mother waving at the both of them.

“Barry, do you want your snack now, or later?” she asked shaking a ziplock bag full of a mixture small marshmallows, pretzel sticks, caramelized kettle corn, yogurt dipped pretzels and lightly salted macadamia nuts.

The blond turned to his friend, “Wait, timeout, snack time!” he made the letter ‘T’ with his hands before taking off up the hill to retrieve his snacks.

Stumbling his way up the grassy hill, Barry waddled up to his mom to fetch the bag of snacks from her hand and giving her a quick kiss to her cheek, “Thanks, mom.”

“Of course, honey. Just be careful while playing, okay?”

“We’re not playing, mom. We’re going on an adventure to give the Gem of Life to the two queens of the world.” he enlightened his mother who just smiled and nodded, ruffling his hair after he finished.

“Of course.” she laughed, “My mistake, just be careful on quest.”

“Nora, can you set up the chairs?” Hal’s mom asked, quickly glancing at Barry and flashing him a small grin.

“Alright,” she nodded, turning to Barry, “Go back to your adventure, hun.”

“Okay,” Barry said, turning to run down the hill.

“Make sure to share those snacks with Jack, Hal, and Jim, too!” his mother added.

“I will!” Barry shouted back at his mom when he was about halfway down the hill.

Making it to the bottom, Barry spotted Hal sitting on the wooden edge of the sandbox. His gaze was set on his brothers, who were currently playing in the sand and throwing shovels at the middle child.

Skipping towards his adventure partner, Barry plopped himself down beside him. Opening his bag of snacks, then looking up to Hal with an offering smile, “Want some?”

Hal grinned back at him, taking a yogurt dipped pretzel, “What can we use to get over the lava?”

The blond looked to his side when something lightly poked at his side. “Can I have some?” Jim politely asked with wide eyes, and how could he say no to  _ that  _ face?

“Of course.” Barry cheerfully beamed at the younger boy.

“Can I have some too?” Jack asked on his other side.

“Yeah,” Barry nodded, moving the bag for Jack to take something out of before the boy went back to playing in the sand, his youngest brother quickly following. Jack got down and laid on his stomach as he places random sticks and rocks into the sand mountain his little brother created.

* * *

The earthquake began diminishing until it was still enough for all of them to stand up straight without having to grab something of help.

Taking a deep breath, Barry steadied himself on his two feet. Opening his eyes, he squinted and tilted his head a bit, seeing a couple of rocks floating in the lava that they could jump on to make it to the other side. Wait, not rocks-

“Turtles!” Barry exclaimed, making Hal whip his head to face him.

“What?”

“Lava turtles!” Barry pointed at the bobbing, orange, red, and black lumps in the lava. Turning to face Hal with a hopeful glint in his eyes, a smile started growing on his face, “We can jump on the lava turtles to get to the other side!”

Hal snapped his fingers, “Good idea!”

Barry went first, calculating his jump accordingly, doing his best to dodge the bubbles that popped in the lava. In a few seconds, Barry made it to the other side of the lava lake, motioning for the others to jump on the turtles.

Hal let the wolves jump first, his breath always catching whenever a wolf would start, but he'd eventually let it go when the wolf safely crossed.

It took a couple of minutes, but all the wolves made it safely to the other side, even with their wings that were now glued down with quicksand.

Hal rubbed his hands together, taking a step back, then leaping onto the first turtle. It was harder to balance on than Barry made it look, but Hal was determined to cross without any burns. Hopping the first three with ease, Hal accidentally jumped too far on the fourth turtle, causing everyone’s stomach to drop. Lucky, Hal - somehow - got his feet to stand on the lava. Wait, how was he doing this?

The sudden movements made Hal think it was another earthquake, but it wasn't. This time, the platform under his feet started to rise from the lava.

Hal screamed in terror, leaping the of the turtles to get to safer grounds, colliding onto Barry when he made it to land. Looking back, they both came face-to-face with a giant magma monster that was emerging from the lava lake.

It let out a blood-curdling screech as it whacked its massive hand at the two.

* * *

“OWW! HAL!” 

“Uh oh… RUN!”

The brunette took off in the other direction from his brother, dragging the blond behind him by the wrist.

“Why’d you jump on his back?!” Barry screamed, his other hand desperately holding close his bag of snacks.

“I didn’t  _ mean  _ to!” Hal answered, “He was just really close to the pail and I accidentally slipped and lose my balance!”

Running towards the blue equipment, climbing the tunnel slide to get up the play structure, since it was the closest they could get to a ladder on short notice.

“Get down here, Hal!” Jack yelled, stomping furiously into the packed rubber mulch that made up the ground

“Or what?” Hal challenged, earning him an elbow to his ribs from Barry. “Ow!”

"Or I’ll tell Mom!” Jack spat, narrowing his eyes at the boy.

“Apologize!” Barry whisper yelled to the brunette.

“No!” Hal whispered back.

Letting out an exasperated sigh aimed at the stubborn boy, Barry rolled his eyes and let them linger off to the side.

“Get. Down. Here. Right. Now!” Jack punctuated every word, making him sound more intimidating, but Hal wouldn't let up.

The brunette stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry as his older brother, “Why don’t you make an effort and come up here?”

“Shut up and get down here or I’ll--I’ll tell mom that you hurt yourself!”

“You LIAR!” Hal hissed, tightening his grip on Barry’s wrist, “If you’re gonna lie to mom, then I’ll tell her that time you opened that box!”

“I will  _ kill  _ you!” Jack snapped.

“Ha! Try catching up to me first, you swiss cheese sandwich!”

"Get down here right now!”

“You’re not mom. You’re not dad. So  _ why  _ should I listen to  _ you _ ?”

“Because I’m older than you!”

“Only by a few years, stupid!”

“Oh!  _ real mature _ , Hal! Calling me names because I’m older than you!”

“You’re just mad because you don’t have any good comebacks!”

“Fine! You know what?!” Jack stepped onto the slide, “You asked or it!” The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the tube slide, making Hal pull Barry behind him until he could see Jack’s shoe from inside the slide.

Backing up to an unfenced area of the structure, Hal jumped off the equipment, dragging Barry along with him.

A loud cry tore from behind him, causing him to glance back, spotting Barry as the blond hit the hard flooring of the play structure.

“Barry!” Hal let go of the pale wrist, climbing up the ladder that was nearby to inspect the blond, “Are--Are you okay?”

The footsteps clambering onto the structure stopped a few steps in when it saw Barry laying against the ground. 

“Barry?” Hal softly shook his body, he started internally panicking when got no response from the blond, “Barry, are you okay?!” A soft whimper came from the body when Hal gently picked up his face into his palms. Pulling his face from the floor, it revealed a dark dirt mark on his cheek.

* * *

“Does it hurt?” 

Barry wiped away a tear, while Hal dabbed gently at Barry’s dirted cheek. “I’m… I’m okay.”

“Barry you’re crying.” Hal moved the wet towel over to soak up the tears running down the blond’s face.

“It’s just the rush draining from my body.” he sniffed, swallowing a lump in his throat, gaining him a look of knitted brows with a slight frown. Shifting a bit, Hal pulled his friend into a tight hug, which he reciprocated. Wrapping his arms under Hal's arm and placing his uninjured cheek against his partner's shoulder.

"I'm sorry..."

* * *

“Bear, what happened to your face?”

“What?” Barry asked as if he didn’t know what his mother was talking about.

“Your face.” his mother pointed out, crouching down at his eye level. Tenderly sweeping her thumb over the scratch marks leftover from the fall. “Did you get hurt?”

Barry bit into his hotdog, “Just fell, ‘m okay.”

She narrowed her eyes and squinted a bit at him, and for a second Barry thought she caught him lying, until she let go of his face and backed away, “Okay, if you say so…”

He just flashed her a grin before she turned to go get some food for herself. Barry turned to Hal, who was listening to whatever the girls were talking about.

“So, after lunch, you want us to give you the gem?” Hal asked as he took a bite from his hotdog.

“Yeah,” Carol agreed, looking to Iris as they share a smirk.

Hal just stared at both of them, his brows drawing together in confusion, “Girls are so weird,” he murmurs before turning to face his best friend. “So, I was thinking, maybe we could fight some monsters before going to the castle. Like, maybe some monsters are guarding the exit to the forest.”

Barry tilted his head, “That sounds fun, but what are we going to use to fight?”

* * *

Hiking out of the forest, it seemed like seeing light was a miracle from the gods since the thick canopy of the forest wouldn’t let in any light.

“C’ mon, the castle’s so close!” Hal started up a jog towards the colossal building. But, before he could get in a few yards, hands reached up from the ground and tried catching the brunette’s feet.

Yelping in surprise, Hal jumped back, watching as the fingers dug into the ground to push up wooden creatures. It swung at Hal’s legs, unburying itself from the soil beneath the adventurer’s feet. The creature pulled out its legs, standing upright until it was nearly ten times the size of the brunette.

“Hal!” Barry bellowed, throwing himself onto his partner to push him out of the way, just in time for one of the root monster’s hands to graze along Barry’s back.

“What are these things?!” Hal shrieked, rolling them over as to dodge an oncoming foot.

“They’re Root Giants, “ Barry told him, yanking Hal into a sitting position when a tail nearly whacked into the side of the brunette’s face, “They’re highly territorial and--” Barry ducked under a swing, “won’t let up until they kill you.”

Pulling them both up to their feet, the blond pushed Hal away from him when a root swung between them.

“Then that means...we have to kill them?” Hal asked for clarification.

“ 'fraid so.” Barry rolled out of the way from a grab the creature took, digging in his satchel to pull out a camping knife and a dagger. Narrowly slipping away from an attack, Barry threw Hal the dagger to use, “C’ mon, there’s only two of them. Let's show these guys who they're messing with.”

With a run-up, Barry swung his arm to cut off one of the giant’s arms off; while Hal acted quickly and jumped before the monster could grab him, then ran up the creature’s arm to make it onto its shoulder. With multiple swings, Hal completely beheaded the monster, watching as its head came loose and fell onto the ground with a loud crash. It’s body suddenly going limp as it fell backward, making it so Hal had to jump off just in time as the body collapses into the dirt right behind him.

Climbing onto the monster, Barry weaved throughout its body, slicing away at its vital roots to have it slowly drop to its knees. Cutting up one last root, Barry felt the giant topple over in a lifeless heap of roots. Parkouring his way out of the creature, Barry met up with Hal once both monsters were taken care of. Both of them were panting from both adrenaline and simply being out of breath.

Turning to look back at the castle, Hal grabbed Barry’s hand, then looked back at the wolves, who stayed back during the whole fight.

Out of nowhere, the ground started to shake violently, then a deafening sound of an explosion shook the sky. 

Barry loudly gasped, then pointed to the erupting volcano, “RUN!”

“Let’s go!” Hal shouted to the wolves, pulling Barry along with him as the blond tangled their fingers together. 

Making their way towards the castle, the gate opened for the two when they came rushing in with their pack of winged wolves. Running up until they got to the thrones of the two queens, where said two queens were sitting.

“M’ladies.” Barry bowed shortly after Hal did, both of them still panting a bit, “We present the Gem of Life to you both.”

“Bring it up,” Carol told him, motioning him up the stairs to their thrones.

The blond ran up the steps until he reached the last, getting down on one knee to present the Gem of Life to them.

Iris took hold of the gem, then carefully place it onto a podium between the two thrones.

The podium lit up once in contact with the gem, sending a beam of light straight out of the rock, to touch the ceiling of the castle. Then, the room started lightly shaking, making the castle began transforming into crystal. Hal glanced out the window, seeing the kingdom’s village begin coming back to life.

“Barry, Hal, we thank you.” Iris bowed her head down at the two adventurers, “Without you two, we could’ve never revived the kingdom.”

“To thank you, we give you this.” Iris leaned down to place a light kiss onto the blond’s forehead, making Barry’s pale face come aflame. 

Carol stood up and made her way towards the brunette.

“Uh… No, no no, I’m okay.” Hal backed away from the jet-black haired girl, “A thank you is fine.”

* * *

“I can’t believe that just happened.”

“I can’t believe  _ I  _ did that.” Hal held the ice pack to his cheek that Barry got for him.  Barry giggled, lying down onto his bed, his blue eyes wandering over to the open window, looking out on a starry night sky.  “Man, and I thought I was gonna get the perfect ending to a perfect day.” Hal sighed as he shook his head.

“At least you get to sleep with me instead of your parents.” Barry brought his hands behind his head, lightly smiling at his friend.  Hal shrugged, getting back under the covers as the blond shifts off his legs.

“How’d you even manage to hit your cheek on the doorknob?” the blond amusingly asked, pulling himself up and tossing his legs on the bed to kneel in front of the brunette.

“I dunno, I think my towel got stuck on something and pull it off, and I realized it got pulled off but kept walking for some reason, so I tripped and hit the doorknob.” Hal briefly explained, removing his ice pack to feel at the bruise that formed over his cheekbone.

The blond sweetly smiled, crawling up beside Hal and got under the blanket, watching him poke and press his bruise, wincing each time. Reaching out, Barry caught Hal’s wrist, making the brunette look to him. “Stop touching it.” Barry told him, “I’ll just get worse… Just turn off the light and sleep.”

Hal sighed but twisting to place his ice pack onto the bedside table before turning the lamp off. Laying down, Hal situated himself under the covers and turned to face Barry, his eyes now half-lidded from drowsiness, yet somehow he still managed a small smile.

“Does your cheek feel okay?” Hal questioned, scooting closer to him.

“ ‘s fine.” Barry yawned, “Yours feel alright?”

“It still hurts.” Hal huffed, making Barry smile a bit wider.

“Good,” he mumbled, earning him a frown, which he laughed at. “I’m just kidding. I hope it feels better tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, me too.” Hal resisted the urge to touch it, instead, wrapping his arms around Barry’s form and pulling him closer.

Barry snuggles in, watching Hal close his eyes and start drifting off to sleep. Without a second thought, Barry leaned up and pressed a gentle kiss to Hal’s cheek, making the brunette open back his eyes and lift up a brow a puzzlement.  “What was that?”

“Just a kiss to make it feel better,” Barry answered, pulling his head down and closing his eyes. He heard Hal scoffed as he pulled him in closer.

“That’s so dumb.” Hal jeered, but there wasn't any heat behind his words so Barry just hummed.

A stillness settled between them, making Barry start to drift off into his dreams. Burying his face under Hal’s chin, he felt Hal shift a bit to perch his head on top his head of blond hair, deeply inhaling the pleasing scent radiating from the boy.

Before going completely unconscious, Barry felt Hal moved his neck to crane down and place a kiss over Barry’s injury, whispering a small, “Feel better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to barryshal!


	4. Unmasked Morning Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry gets hit on at 4 in the morning. Luckily, Hal's there to swoop in to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D4) Identity Porn - Fake Dating
> 
> I actually have no idea what I just wrote. One of the stories I feel more ashamed to post, but I had no other ideas.  
I'm so sorry...

"Cya tomorrow!"

Barry waved at his best friend.

He waved back at Barry, "Cya!"

The Green Lantern then flew off, only a speck in the sky when Barry last saw him.

Crap, he needed to get to work.

* * *

"Allen."

"Hmm? Huh? What?" Barry lifted his head from the mound of paperwork underneath him.

He looked around and spotted Patty next to him, eyeing the stack of papers he was currently laying on.

She raised an eyebrow at the papers, then looked at him. "You think you can take a break from work? I was wondering if you wanted to join me with a couple of my friends for dinner at a new restaurant."

Barry looks at her, then down at the papers, and back up at her again.

"Uh... I think I'm just gonna finish these up, then go home." He politely declined her offer.

"Alright," she warmly smiles, "just make sure to go home...okay?"

Barry returns her smile, "Yeah... I'll try..."

She giggled at the comment then turned around and left.

When she was out of earshot Barry let go of a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

Looking down at the papers again, he quietly decided to file the papers after he finished with them, just to save himself some time tomorrow.

* * *

Drowsy. Painfully so.

His neck, arms, legs, and back, we're aching badly.

Barry yawns, stretching his limbs as far as they could stretch.

He's. So. Tired.

But, he completed the papers, so that's a plus.

Barry yawns again.

Damn, was it the fighting? Or the fact that he's starving?

He got his answer when he heard his stomach growl like a hungry dog.

Oh, so it indeed was his stomach...

Barry got up from his seat, twisting around, he felt his back crack.

Ahh...that felt nice...

Shuffling out the room and exiting the station, but not before he glanced up at what time it was.

'3:45' the clock read.

Whelp, it's the next day...

Barry pushes open the door to the station. Letting the bitter weather of Central City punch him right in the face. Luckily, his body immediately heats up, his molecules shaking to keep him warm from the cold that is Central City.

He lets his body do its thing to keep him warm and comfortable while he strolls down the street.

That's the thing about his powers. Being a meta-human with the power of super speed, he can do incredible things. Hell, he can break the time barrier if he tried hard enough.

The freaking, time barrier! He can break the damn 4th dimension if he wanted to!

But, he'd usually keep to the normal things, keeping his city safe, saving the Earth sometimes, vibrating through walls, and warming himself up.

Normal stuff.

But, he's always wondered about others.

Specifically, Lanterns.

It was a certain Green Lantern's fault for getting him to pondering the question.

They were having a casual conversation, and said, Green Lantern, brought up the topic about human anatomy, and how normal humans would warm up because normal humans don't have super speed, the normal human body keeps warm by making your muscles tighten and release, the movement making warmth. However, unlike regular humans, Barry's powers could warm him up by vibrating his skin molecules, making enough heat for him to stand cold weather.

That got him thinking...

Space is cold, like, below-freezing cold. That's mainly because of the lack of atmosphere in the dark vacuum of space.

But, unlike him, Hal is a being. Sure, he has powers but that's only when he's wearing his ring. Without it, the only damage he can do is packing a pretty bruising punch.

So, how does Hal keep warm in space? Hell, how could he breathe in space?

Barry has always assumed it was because of the ring and how it has magical abilities, and it would make the atmosphere around him breathable for humans.

But, if Hal's not frozen in space, does that mean his ring also controls that temperature around his body, so he doesn't freeze to death, as well? 

If so, does it frequently change? 

The Earth is a good example of the atmosphere changing, the closer someone gets to the Earth, the thicker the atmosphere will become. So, it must apply to other planets as well, right?

Of course, this can't go without saying, how in the world can Hal fly?

Maybe the ring alters the weight of his bones, making him light enough to fly, or there was just a magical force powerful enough to grant Lanterns the ability to fly...

Oh wait, that would be the Guardians...

Huh...

So, does that mean they can transfer their magic to normal space creatures, as they do to Green Lanterns, but without a creature having to wear a ring?

The Guardians have shown that their magic could do just about anything, from making 5,000-ton tractors to moving human holograms. So, why can't they just gift some of their powers to a creature they deem worthy enough?

Or is it the usual case of 'If we give you this power, then you will have too much power for your own good.'?

Barry reached up and massaged his temples. See, this is the reason why he has a love/hate relationship with magic.

On one end, it ridiculously confusing. Turning, twisting, melting, and molding his mind whenever he wonders about one, single thing that includes magic. On the other end, he's a scientist, meaning he's too curious to stop thinking. 

His job is to be curious! Though, the reasons to be curious are a bit taboo... Homicides, suicides, parricides, familicides, genocides, as well as other methods of killing that, doesn't end with the suffix '-cide'. They were all a part of his daily life, he just exited the police station a few minutes ago!

Where was he going with all these thoughts again?

Oh right, magic.

He hated and loved it at the same time, that's all anyone needed to know...and all anyone could take.

Coming back to reality, he quickly realized how weird it would be to see a man walking around with a sweater vest and dress pants out in the cold weather, at 3 almost--4 a.m.

Then again, he lives in a city that's protected by a meta-human with super speed and different rouges wandering around. Not to mention that some of the League members would swing by and check on the said meta human, members that fly, have incredibly strong powers, and some even look like a giant glow stick, sometimes.

Okay, so he might not look that weird... But, he'd probably seemed out of place...

Eh...who was he kidding? He couldn't even give two craps if his collar was straight or not right now. So he probably won't give any craps to anyone who finds it strange that he's not wearing a jacket right now in this kind of weather.

Besides, it's 3:45 in the - damn - morning. The citizens who are still awake are probably only functioning on half a brain, three-quarters at most; just like himself.

Pretty soon, he made it to his destination, aka his current obsession, a café tucked comfortably away between two convenience stores and several parked cars that are in front of the café.

He walked through the entrance and immediately tasted the coffee in the air, filling him with caffeine already. Giving a silent 'thank you' to whoever came up with the smart idea of a 24/7 café, he held the door for another person to come in as he scanned the display case for his breakfast.

"Tanks..." the guy, who he was holding the door for, mumbled with a hiccup.

Barry just gave a small smile. There was absolutely no way he was talking at this hour. He couldn't trust himself for not blurring some horrible truth out.

Walking to the ridiculous lineup.

First of all, why are all these people here?

And second, are there that many jobs in Central City that requires people to wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning?

Geez, if this is what the line looks like at four in the morning, he'd be lying if he said he wouldn't be scared to see the line at 9 a.m.

Nevertheless, Barry sighed as he impatiently waited in line. Looking over and over the menu again, then decided to treat himself today.

He'll get a vanilla espresso, with a crap ton of cream and sugar, along with a croissant, or four, or five...

Mmm...a croissant... That'd temporarily fill the hole in his soul that Iris made when she left him.

Crap! Damn it, guess that was, what? Five days without incident?

Barry sighed sadly at the thought rushing through him all over again.

He thought it was going well...but, apparently being the savior of multiple innocent people has a cost...and that cost for him was his relationship.

Barry sighed again.

Suddenly, a hand came around his waist, making him jump.

"Hey...wha's a han-hick-some man like you doin'...sighing 's mush?"

The burning smell of alcohol collided with the energizing smell of the coffee in the café.

Turning his head ever so slightly, he caught a glimpse of the man he held the door for when he first entered. 

The stranger's hair was grey slowly transitioning into a blond at the tips and was incredibly messy. The guy was wearing a questionable smirk on his rather pink lips, his skin was paler than Batman's, with a few tattoos and piercings decorating his exposed skin.

Was this the 'Thanks' he gets for holding the door for someone?

Barry scrunched his nose at the smell of booze and wished he could just vibrate out from this guy's arms since he felt extremely uncomfortable.

"C'mon babe-hick-wha's the problem?" the guy started drawing circles in his ribs, making him feel even more awkward and uncomfortable.

If only he could punch this guy in the face like he does with his rouges. 

But, he can't. 

Yeah, this guy was making him uncomfortable, but he was innocent, and just acting on the alcohol...hopefully...

"Can you please take your arms off me?" Barry stated more than asked, tugging at one of the man's arms that snaked its way around his waist.

"Babe, ba-hick-by, 's okay...you can tell me anythin'..." the stranger, then attempted to placed his chin in the crook of Barry's neck. The action made Barry flinch as if he just got hit, and slightly squirmed in the man's grip.

"Let me go," Barry said firmly, throwing politeness out the window, because if this person won't let go of him in a few seconds, he'll lose his grasp on self-control and this total stranger will have to face the wrath of Barry's fist straight at his nose.

" 'S okay, I gosh you babe. Hick-You tell me anythin', I will listen cause I love you, baby. I love you..." he then proceeded to bury his face into Barry's neck, pushing the last and final button Barry had, that was set to 'respect others and be polite'.

"Get. The. Fuck. Off. Me." Barry punctuated every word, making them stronger as he harshly shoved the man away from him.

He felt the weight come off his back as he pushed away from the stranger.

But, the guy didn't take the hint. Quickly doubling back, and wrapping his arms tighter on Barry's waist, almost punching all the air out of him. As quickly as Barry lost control, he regained it again. Taking a deep breath, and trying to find another way out, until...

"Oh! Hey sweetie!"

Barry turned his head towards the voice.

Another man, who was in front of him in the line, with brown, combed over hair, a flight jacket, a plain white shirt underneath, and some really chocolatey eyes, proceeded to give a smile, and place his arm over Barry's shoulders.

Was today 'Try To Hit On Barry Day?' Or was he just "lucky"?

Soon, Barry felt the tightness of the drunken guy's arms fall off before the brunette pushed Barry in front of him so the guy was sandwiched between the foul-smelling man, and Barry, making sure not to drop his arm around his shoulders.

"Next customer." the barista called out, Barry walked up to the counter. Slightly embarrassed by the arm draped over his shoulder, but the barista didn't seem to care, "Hello, how many I take your order?"

"Uh-hi." Barry pretended to look over the menu, "Can I have the largest cup of your vanilla espresso with a bunch of soy milk and sugar, as well as...five croissants?"

Barry didn't even care if the guy next to him was questioning his eating habits, because Barry was this close to sucker-punching a person, and it's only the morning.

Surprisingly though, when Barry turned to face the guy, he didn't seem fazed at all. Instead, he started saying what he wanted, "And I'd like to have a Caramel Macchiato with a blueberry scone and an apple fritter."

"Okay, I need a name." the girl says.

"Hal Jordan." the guy states.

The girl taps some things into the register, causing a receipt to print out, which she tore out and handed to Hal.

Hal takes it, then leads them both out the line, taking them to an empty booth in the corner of the cafe. It was close enough to hear the names being called out but was it felt farther like they were on a different planet.

When they reached the booth, Hal dropped his arm from Barry's shoulders, "Sorry for that..." he chuckled.

Barry felt his molecules start frantically moving again when Hal pulled his arm away, but a warmth slowly crawled up his chest, and onto his face when the man laughed.

It sounded so...familiar...

He then realized that Hal was waiting for him to talk. A bit embarrassed, Barry started to talk, "Uh-it's fine... I mean--you did save me from that guy..." he sheepishly answered.

The guy chuckled again, making a larger burst of warmth crawl on Barry's face.

"Hey, just because Flash is the only metahuman that lives around here, doesn't mean we should leave all the problems for him to fix," Hal replied.

"Flash? You know the Flash?" Barry asked, which he immediately mentally face palmed himself for saying such a dumb question. 

Of course, he knows the Flash! The Flash is the equivalent to a famous movie star in Central City!

The man's smile becomes soft, "Yeah...he's cool. Heard he's a likable dude."

Now more than ever, Barry wished he brought his jacket along with him so he could hide his face in it since he could feel the blush strengthen.

"Yeah...heard that too..." Barry awkwardly said.

"Hal Jordan." someone called out.

Barry silently let out a sigh of relief. 

That timing was incredible. 

Just another reason why he's so - freaking - obsessed with this café.

"Oh," Hal looked up at the barista, holding their orders at the counter, "that's me!" Hal shouted, walking off to take the items.

Barry sucks in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves as he slowly slides into the booth, thinking about Hal.

His nice brown combed over hair, that reminded Barry of coffee.

Soft brown eyes.

Nice white, radiant smile.

And the smell of coffee.

Though, that may be because they were in a café...

Wait, is he paying for Barry's order as well? Or did he pickpocket him and was using Barry's card to pay? He should thank the guy either way. Unless Hal decides to run off.

"BABY!" A voice yelled out, right as the same drunken dude, with the grey hair and obvious piercings, was running to Barry's booth, their eyes locked and the guy's had a determined glint in them.

Determined on what? Barry had no clue. But he didn't have enough curiosity to figure out.

What?! Why?! When?! How?! Who?! 

Shit.

Multiple people glance over at the tipsy guy, some giving off annoying glares.

Barry slides down his seat, hoping that if he slides down enough, the guy will be too drunk to even contemplate where Barry went.

Unfortunately, there was no such luck for him.

The guy all but sprinted towards him.

Crap...

The drunken guy runs up to Barry. When he was right in front of him, he collapses onto his knees, folding his hands together. "Baby! Baby please! Take me back! I'll treat you betta-hick. Just please--take me back!" the guy outright sobs.

Barry scooted even farther into the booth, trying to keep his distance from the guy's drunken state as he frantically looking around.

Where was Hal when you needed him?! The counter wasn't that far away from the booth, was it? Hal, surely had to hear that yelling, cause he was pretty sure the whole cafe was watching him right now.

He saw many of the customers giving him a more than an unpleasant look.

'Sorry!' he mouths to the unpleased customers.

Barry's anger immediately spikes up.

What if Hal did pickpocket him and was currently running away with his debit card?

"Bab-hick-y! I--I need you ta be in ma life! P-please!" The man begged, tears streaming down his cheeks.

This man must have some serious relationship problems since he's gone from 0 to 100 in the span of a few minutes.

"B-Babe! Please!" the man cried.

Barry shifted uncomfortably, not sure what to say to this man, who was breaking down right in front of him.

He heard a chair scratch the floor, then suddenly, "Just take the damn man back!"

Barry looked up, a guy, a few tables away from him, with black, slicked-back hair and a frown, stood up and was yelling at him.

Barry's pupils dilated in shock.

Why? Why? When did this happen? How did this happen? And why is it happening to him, of all the seven billion people on this Earth, why did fate decide to pick him?!

Barry sighed in defeat, pinching the bridge of his nose and clamming his eyes shut.

Then, he heard a familiar snicker.

Opening his eyes and looking up, he sees Hal leaning up against a wall, orders in hand, watching as Barry gets more and more aggravated and distressed by the second. 

Barry quickly shot the man a death glare. Though, it was mostly the lack of coffee that made him squint his eyes at the tan man. In reality, he was just glad the man didn't leave, especially if he did have his debit card.

Hal just replied with a small, cute grin. Stepping beside the alcohol-driven guy and placing their orders down on the table. He then gently grabbing Barry's hand and interlacing their fingers together, making another blush explode onto the blonde's face in milliseconds. Pulling him from the booth, making Barry slide between the still sobbing ombré, and the table.

Hal then proceeded to show the black-haired man, as well as the entirety of the café, that he was holding Barry's hand, then shouted: "He's with me!"

Barry's face got even warmer - if that was even possible - making him cover his face with his arm.

The jet black-haired man slowly sat down in his seat, his eyes like two slits on his face as he stares at the three randos making a scene.

Hal seems to take no notice of the audience before him, kneeling next to the drunken, crying man, and placing his hand on the sobbing guy’s back.

"Hey," Hal tried to get the man's attention.

It worked, the man pulled his face out from his hands. His eyes puffy, his nose running, tear streaks running down his face and dripping down his chin.

"Listen, bud," Hal softly says, "You'll find another person who'll love you."

The man just sniffed.

"But this man, right here," Hal pulled Barry towards him, making Barry stumble into his side. At this point, Barry doesn't even try to remove his face from Hal's side, knowing that his face would show how embarrassed he was. 

"This man is mine." Hal continues, not showing that he gave a damn about Barry's face, tucked into the side of his chest "Got it?"

The man, who was sitting on the ground just hiccuped, "Why?"

"Cause...we...like each other." Hal hesitantly answer, but barely broke character, "Now c' mon my dude, don't want you to lose all your dignity. I mean...if you still have any left that is..." Hal stretched his hand down for the guy to take.

Pulling the man up, a small smile painted onto the stranger's face as Barry detach his face from Hal's side, deeming his face cold enough to be revealed again.

"Oh, and don't go 'round hitting on random people. Trust me." Hal added, lightly slapping the man's back and making him sit in the booth.

The man's face lifted into a smile, swaying a little bit. "You're funny..."

"You're gonna pass out, aren't you?" Hal asked with a smirk. Right after he said that the guy's head dropped down, on to the table.

Hal chortled, grabbing their orders, then pulling himself and Barry away from the booth and out the door. Leaving the drunk, passed out dude, and many people in the café extremely confused, but at the same time amused from what they had just witnessed.

Barry had no idea where Hal was taking them and was slightly afraid that Hal would pull a knife on him.

Hal casually led him down an alley, Barry - more suspicious than ever - hesitantly followed.

Just because a guy is good looking, rescued him twice, paid for his food along with his own, and comforted a drunk stranger, doesn't mean he's not a murder.

Barry felt for his ring on the hand, that wasn't holding Hal's. 

If this guy was planning to kill him, Barry might have to book it back to the police station.

Hal took them behind a dumpster, looking around like he didn't want any witnesses.

Barry immediately crouched into a runner's stance.

Then, Hal turned back to Barry.

"Nice Flash ring," he comments.

Barry's eyes widen. He hopes Hal will buy the lie that he's just a fan, and the ring is just a well-made piece of a cosplay costume.

But, the brunette doesn't ask any more questions. Instead, he unlaces their hands, letting Barry's arm drop to his side as he showed his fist to the blond.

"Wanna see what my ring can do?" Hal quirked an eyebrow, making him look - a little too - badass.

Barry's eyes widen even more. "GL?" he whispered.

Hal laughed as he summoned his Green Lantern suit and handed Barry the bag of food as well as the drinks, "I expose my hair, and 75% of my face. While you only expose 50% of your face. Yet, somehow I manage to figure out you're the Flash before you could figure out I'm Green Lantern." Hal shook his head, "Maybe Spooky's underestimated my intelligence."

"Hal?" Barry mumbled.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." Hal smiled, willing a bubble around Barry, "Now c' mon, the Leagues' been trying to contact you for hours!" Hal slowly flies up, making sure the bubble doesn't die out anytime soon.

Barry felt for his earpiece but remembered he accidentally left it at home when he ran to grab his wallet. He then tried to feel for his phone but remembered that he broke it last week since he was fighting while talking to someone on the other line. Turns out fighting while talking on the phone isn't such a good idea since it ended with the phone getting smashed to bits, and Barry never really had the time to get a new one.

Barry tried to not look down, since they were nearing the brink of the Earth's atmosphere, meaning the ground was a ways away.

"Sorry..." Barry apologized.

"Eh, the meeting can't be all that important, right?" Hal looked down at Barry with forgiving eyes.

"How'd you know to find me at a café?" Barry asked, after an awkward silence.

"I didn't," Hal laughed, navigating his way to the Leagues' Watchtower, "I just really needed some coffee, and you just so happened to stumble into the same cafe as me. So technically, you found me."

That made Barry smile, which was weird, cause Hal wasn't trying to make him smile, but he did anyway.

Hal glanced down at Barry, "Just don't tell BatFace MeGee, alright? He told me to go find you, but I kinda decided to get coffee first. Hope you're not offended. "

Barry chuckled, "Hey, I get that a good cup of coffee is important, and I'll keep my mouth shut around Batman about you not doing your job."

"Hey!" The Green Lantern cried, "I did do my job! I found you, didn't I?"

Barry just shrugged, keeping the smile on his lips.

They flew for a few more seconds until Hal makes it to the entrance of the Watchtower. Barry quickly changes into his Flash costume as his feet meet the metallic flooring of the Watchtower.

"Better get to the conference room," Hal says, taking his drink from Barry as well as digging his hand into the paper bag to find his apple fritter.

"C' mon, or we'll be late!" Hal exclaims, biting into his apple fritter and flying down the hallway.

"I'm always late." Barry shakes his head while he takes a sip of his vanilla espresso.

Now, mid-way down the halls, Hal stops, and turns around with that all too familiar smirk on his face, "Yeah, guess that's true."

Barry grins in return.

"Oh," Hal said, "you can keep the blueberry scone, by the way. Trust me when I say, it's berry good,  _ almost  _ as sweet as you." turning around he continues to make his way down the hall.

Barry felt his face get warm for the hundredth time that morning.

What was he saying about the coldness in space again? 

Let's just say...he was wrong, in many ways this morning. But  damn, can that man flatter someone, he'll need to work on his puns, though.


	5. Keep Me Comfortable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hal Jordan, Barry Allen, the heat, trying to sleep, getting snuggles, and a freezer.  
All the best of friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D5) A/B/O - Height Difference
> 
> This is more of a shitpost fic. I completely let myself run wild with this one, and I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking...or if I was even thinking.  
Be warned that the characters might be a tad bit OOC, also this is my first time venturing out and exploring the Omegaverse, so just bear with me.  
But, I hope you all still enjoy!

"Barry, you're not sleeping in a freezer."

The speedster pouted at him, already halfway into the freezer, "It's hot and I'm horny, what other choice do I have?"

"Where did you even get a freezer anyway?" the brunette questioned, very aware of the fact that both of them are still bare naked after their last round in bed.

Barry just shrugged, pulling his other leg into the freezer, "Leonard gave it to me as a gag gift. Get it? Get it? Pretty funny, huh?"

Hal ran his hand through his hair and let out a breath, "Guess you won't get any cuddles then."

"No!" Barry cried out, extending his arms out and making a grabbing motion at Hal, "Please? I wanna snuggle!"

Hal knitted his eyebrows, pulling his feet together, crossing his arms in front of his chest, and tilting his head to the side, "You act so weird when you're horny and hot, Bear."

Barry pouted again and looked down at himself, then back up at Hal with just his eyes, making the Lantern roll his eyes and groan. Feeling the flesh between his legs become hotter and harder.

Striding up to his boyfriend, Hal grabbed at Barry's arm and pulled him into a deep kiss. The kiss was much sweeter than the sloppy and uncoordinated ones in bed, but he still got a deep moan from his omega.

"Take care of me, alpha?" Barry had an innocent yet subtle whining tone in his voice once they got their lips separated.

"Yeah," Hal agreed, looking down at the freezer walls that reached his mid-thigh, the only thing separating the two from pouncing on each other. 

Glancing up back up at Barry, Hal frowned, "But not in the freezer."

" _ HAAAAAL _ ..."

* * *

Hal rubbed his hand over his eyes as he tried getting in a comfortable position. Swinging his leg and arm over to hug and snuggle into a plain body pillow as he sunk lower into the thin blanket draped over himself.

Barry watches his back from the freezer with a small frown on his face, for he wanted Hal to snuggle with him, "Hal..."

The Green Lantern hummed back, barely turning his head to indicate that he was listening to the speedster. It wasn't that he was trying to be rude, he was just worn out after going several rounds with Barry. Not to mention his legs were cold as hell since they decided to do everything while standing upright in the freezer.

"Can you snuggle me too?" Barry sadly asked, his breath appearing as a cloud because of the icy temperature around his form.

"If you come into  _ your _ nest, yeah," he answered back, causing for a small whimper to escape the blond.

"Hal...please?" Barry softly whined, making sure to sound irresistible to the Lantern.

"It's so uncomfortable in there." Hal unwrapped his limbs from the pillow and shifted to face Barry with a sleepy look on his face.

"Please?" Barry sweetly asked, bumping the pitch of his voice a bit higher.

Hal clammed his eyes shut and buried his face into the blanket for a few seconds, making Barry think that Hal was trying exceptionally hard to just ignore him completely. But, when he pulled his face from the blanket, giving a hefty sigh, he flung the blanket away to expose his body and moved to have his feet touching the wooden floor. Wrapped the blanket around himself, he then proceeded to make his way towards the freezer.

"Gimme some space." Hal huffed tiredly as Barry smiled brightly and moved forward a few scoots.

"The hell? How's that gonna fit my body?" Hal questioned, looking at the space provided for him.

"Get in here so I can sit between your legs and snuggle into your chest," Barry demanded, moving a few millimeters forward.

Hal groaned but climbed into the freezer anyway, shivering the moment his feet touched the cold bottom of the freezer. Quickly, Hal seated himself with his legs surrounded the speedster, as he uses the blanket to save his bottom from having to directly come into contact with the fringed freezer floor.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd claim you're abusing me right now," Hal grunted while the speedster snuggled into his chest.

"Don't say that." Barry quickly shot back, grabbing the corners of the blanket, and wrapping his body with it.

"Right, sorry." Hal sighed, snaking his hand around Barry's waist and pulling him closer to make and preserve heat between their bodies.

"How in the fuck do you expect me to sleep like this?" Hal tried to move his leg but was pinned between Barry's leg and the freezer wall.

"Just sleep," the blond mumbled, already feeling sleep grabbing at him, while Hal buried his nose into Barry's shoulder.

"It's freezing." Hal breathed against pale skin as his arms constricted around Barry's waist.

" 's not that cold," Barry replied, reaching his hand up to pet at Hal's cold hair.

"Speak for yourself, you're a speedster who can regulate his body temperature." the brunette growled, "And now I'm hard because you're sitting in my lap. Fucking...dammit." 

"Just grind into me, it feels nice." Barry offered, barely thinking about the words escaping his mouth while his hand dropped from Hal's head, down into his lap.

"You're fucking drunk on exhaustion already, asshole." Hal lifted his head, instantly regretting his choices and burying it back in Barry's shoulder.

They sat there up until Hal couldn't feel his toes, but at that point, Barry lulled himself into slumber. Hal lifted his head and poked at his boyfriend, but got no response other than a gentle whine.

A soft growl grew inside Hal's chest and rose out from his throat. There was only one person in this universe who could convince Hal to even  _ think _ that sleeping in a freezer was a good idea. It was so unfair Barry had all the power over him, even though  _ Hal _ was the alpha between the both of them.

Though, once he glanced down to find Barry's peaceful sleeping face, he realized why he let his little, not-so-little omega boss him around.

He is fucking  _ terrifying, _ not to mention dangerous. Not in a violent way, (Though, if you were to mess with his loved ones, you'd get one hell of a beating.) but in a way where he uses his looks and voice to manipulate you into doing whatever he wants, and it works like a charm on Hal, especially if Barry uses it in his heat. By then, Hal feels compelled to do whatever his omega wants because he wants the blond to be satisfied and happy while going through such a phase.

Though there are some requests that Hal could make exceptions for, that he'd  _ never  _ do, his omega knows this though. He knows Hal like the back of his hand, so he only ever uses his manipulative powers for small things, like getting him a drink, or convincing him to snuggle.

Dammit, Hal was being manipulated by this tiny beast, and he loved it.

Huffing out a breath - resulting in a cloud - Hal moved to stand up and step out of the freezer, tossing his - now cold - blanket over into the nest, then proceeding to somehow pick up the speedster bridal style, and smoothly transferring him onto their mattress.

Once he got that done, Hal rearranged Barry to be in a comfortable position before he got into the nest with him. Rolling up the cold blanket, Hal placed it upon Barry's feet, and finally laid down. Having Barry be the bigger spoon, he picked up one of the speedster's arms and place it so it was draping over his abdomen. Hal made sure to have Barry just barely touching him, or else he'd transfer his heat over to the blond, and the speedster would start whining again.

Grabbed their secondary thin blanket, he splayed it out and covered himself with it. Though it was a bit small, since it belonged to Barry, and the omega would usually sleep in the fetal position - it was comfortable enough for him to let out a content sigh through his nose, as he brings the body pillow along underneath. Curled up against the pillow, he found himself dozing off while he slowly regained the feeling of having his toes.

* * *

The first thing he felt was the kick to his chest, then someone stepping on his shoulder.

Annoyingly moaning, Hal peeped an eye open to look at Barry, who was now halfway out of his nest, showing off his perk pecks and sucked in stomach.

"What are you doing?" Hal mumbled, slapping his hand down on Barry's torso and rubbing at the skin that was stretched between the speedster's rib cage and his abs.

The sun hasn't risen yet, but the light of the full moon filtering into the room with its soft grey hues was enough to see everything.

Barry just tiredly moaned, pulling the other half of his body up to glare at Hal.

"What?"

" 's fuckin' hot, dipshit." Barry angrily pouted.

"Big words already?" Hal teased, earning a foot to his face.

"Shu' up, it's hot. I don't like it..." Barry rolled onto his stomach with a heavy sigh.

Stroking tenderly at the blond's tailbone, Hal fanned his other hand around to try and make some wind for the speedster.

"I'm hungry!" Barry raised his head to look back at Hal and whine, " 'n it's hoOoOot..." Barry whimpered, dropping his head back down behind the mattress.

"Mmm... Selfless they said..." Hal murmured to himself but got a light kick to the chin anyway.

"I just want food and cold weather... Is that too much to ask for?" Barry tiredly huffed, "I'm so tired, and hot, and hungry, I feel like a pregnant omega right now...and I don't like it!" 

"Hmm, should probably check that...for the fourth time this week..." Hal rubbed his chin with one of his fingers, then looked back up at the blond, "You should take that request to Weather Wizard."

A loud gasp came from the blond, then a loud cry following suit, "I don't wanna be a father yet! I--I don't wanna..."

"Barry?" Hal sat up and leaned over, "Are you alright?"

"I...I don't wanna be a fa-ther yet..." the speedster sobbed, "We're not even married yet and...and..."

"Woah! Hey, babe, it's okay. We used protection last night... Probably have to buy a new pack...but we used protection." Hal nervously said, picking up the speedster and bringing him onto his chest.

"I don't wanna be a father!" Barry bawled.

"You're not a father, yet." the brunette patted the speedster's back, "We'll have children when we're ready. Which isn't right now..."

Barry hiccuped as he pushed away from the Lantern, "I don't wanna be a father! What if I mess up?!"

"You won't mess up." Hal calmly assured him, knowing that his heat, the heat, and his tiredness was getting to his mind.

Barry gasped for deep breaths, "C-Can I--I have a-a hug-g?"

"Of course, babe." Hal closed in to wrap his arms around the blond, but quickly got stopped.

"B-ut like--don't-don't touch me..."

"Uh..." Hal confusingly blinked at Barry but made an effort anyway. The brunette hovered his arms around the blond's body, then looked up at the speedster, "This okay?"

"Y-Y-eah..." Barry nodded as he wiped away a tear.

"Uh...right..." Hal let go of his position, then sat back into a pillow, raising his hands to place behind his head.

The two sat in silence, other than the sound of Barry rolling in the nest every once in a while and sniffing occasionally, they laid contently in the nest.

"Hey, how 'bout I turn on the AC?" Hal asked as he lifted an eyebrow at the blond.

"It's broken," Barry sighed, rolling off the bed and crawling to the freezer.

"What? Since when?" Hal question with slight irritation, watching as the speedster dropped himself into the freezer.

"Like, the day after you left for your last mission." Barry leaned himself on the cold freezer wall, "Did you think we already owned four fans?"

"Did you hire someone to fix it?" 

"Of course I did. They're coming on Saturday." 

Hal thought for a moment, realizing that they didn't have fans in the house, but they did have a spare freezer. Sighing, he scooted to lay down on his side, watching Barry make faces at him from the freezer.

Damn did Hal love this man.

Constructing an AC around the freezer with his ring, Hal watched as Barry gripped the sides of the freezer to peek outside the freezer walls.

"How about I get some fans, hang some wet towels over them, and change this nesting material into something more airier? Will, that get you to come back into your nest and cuddle with me without any complaints?" Hal tried, eyeing Barry as he placed his face on the edge of the freezer.

"May-be..." Barry smirked, pulling himself out of the freezer and closer to the constructed AC.

"Okay, fine."

* * *

Shifting closer, Barry curled into Hal's sleeping area, leaving the alpha with little to no bed-room.

"Barry..." Hal moaned in annoyance, lightly pushing at the top of the blond's head since he was perpendicular from the speedster.

The omega hummed and lifted his head to be placed on Hal's stomach, then turned his face so he was pressing his cheek against the brunette's abs.

Hal heaved a heavy sigh, then stretched open his arms to invite Barry to lay on him like the omega always loved to do in the winter, when they needed to share heat.

Scrambling up the pilot's body, Barry dropped himself down on Hal's figure, making the brunette let out an 'oof...' as he wrapped his arms around the blond's form.

Barry tilted his head to rest it upon Hal's shoulder, rubbing his cheek all over it like a feline. The brunette wrapped his legs around meaty thighs, before giving a tight squeeze with his own thighs - he did always love hugging Barry like a body pillow - then entangled their legs together; while his arms came under pale arms, holding each other together by the small of the speedster's back.

The white noise of the fans slowly drawing the two into a comfortable slumber.

Though, brown eyes peeked open for a second to glance at the unplugged freezer for a moment.

Eh, they'll deal with it tomorrow.

* * *

A loud 'ding' ripped Hal from his sleep; he forgot to lower his phone's ringer volume. When another notification rang through the room, the pilot groaned in annoyance and begrudgingly reached for his phone from the bedside table. 

Moving the phone so it wasn't facing Barry's face, Hal pressed his home button and immediately got blinded by the brightness.

Dimming down the light, Hal realized he received several messages from Carol while he was sleeping. Six messages to be exact and all of them were talking about a meeting.

Oh shit, that's right, he had a meeting today with the...well, he wasn't certain. A formal gathering of test pilots, managers, administrators, and...bosses, or something...at about nine-ish.

Clicking his phone off, Hal dropped his hand down to the mattress as a growl grew in his throat, causing the speedster to awaken, wearily.

Barry placed his chin on Hal's chest to look up at the Lantern. "Hmm?" he hummed in a tired, high-pitched tone.

Brown eyebrows rose up before he tenderly stroked the soft, pale skin on the blond's back with his thumb. "Nothing," Hal mumbled, "Just go back to sleep, babe." 

A sleepy moan bubbles from Barry's throat before he turned his face down to rest his cheek against Hal's tan chest as a content sigh escapes his nose.

Checking the time, Hal decided he could cuddle for a few more minutes. Muting his ringer, Hal threw his phone down, making it bounce a few times before it landed face-down in the nest. Sighing, the pilot rested his hand on the back of Barry's neck, feeling at the short hairs ticking at his fingertips.

* * *

Arms wrapped around a neck while a chin rested upon a bare, freckled shoulder.

"W'a ar' you doin'?" Hal asked, before spitting out his mouth full of foaming toothpaste and rinsing it out with water.

"I like your smell." blue eyes fluttered shut as Barry scented along the column of his alpha's throat.

If Hal wasn't the one who put that bond mark on Barry's neck, he would've never guessed he was an omega during his days in heat.

Splashing some water on his face then patting it down with a towel, Hal swung around and picked up the speedster in a hug, then quickly stepped into the bedroom and flung Barry into his nest.

After a few moments of no reactions, Hal strolled over to sit on the edge of the nest. Watching his omega curl in thin sheets, and adorably yawn against one of Hal's t-shirts he stole from the alpha months ago. Barry claimed he needed the shirt in his summer nest for some reason. 

Hal never understood why the blond would collect objects he owned, then become so attached to them; it's one of the reasons why the omega still hasn't given up on nest building, even though he's already bonded to an alpha. Even if Hal would never understand what the reason is for, he never discouraged the omega for what he wanted to do, Hal would be lying if he said it didn't make him feel even a little special.

"Still tired?" the brunette softly asked with a small smirk, leaning closer to the satisfied looking blond.

Barry tilted his head up as a smile grew on his face, then he slowly opened his eyes to look at the Lantern. "You just threw me into the nest...of course I'm still tired."

Hal chuckled at Barry's sarcasm, bending down to press a kiss to the speedster's cheek, while the blond scrunched up his nose and screwed his eyes shut. When the alpha pulled away, he laughed at his omega's face before pressing another kiss to his temple, "You're so cute..."

"I can kill you with my bare fists." Barry raised his hand and vibrated it to make it seem like a threat, but his alpha was barely frightened. Dipping down to place a tenderhearted kiss on the speedster's eyelid, before he pulled back fully and watched the blond crinkle his nose and give the brunette a fake pout. "I'm suppose to be menacing..."

"Alright Menacing, I'm gonna go make us some breakfast." Hal ruffled at Barry's already disheveled hair.

"Why are you waking up so early anyway?" the speedster planted his feet on the nest and lifted his hips as he stretched his arms towards Hal and screwed his eyes shut.

"I have to go to a meeting with Carol at nine," Hal answered, watching Barry stretch before his limbs went limp, and he was back to laying peacefully in the nest.

"It's seven o'clock." Barry dragged his hand over his eyes.

"It takes us forever to eat in the morning." Hal replied, "Besides, I have to fit in that suit you got me."

"I wanted to cuddle today..." Barry wrapped his arms around himself to hug his own body.

"You have to work today too, Bear." Hal chuckled as he told the blond, getting him a strangled whimper and a sigh.

"C' mon, get up, I'll make us breakfast." Hal playfully slapped Barry's shoulder to get him to awake.

The blond huffed a breath from his nose, then reluctantly rose from his spot in the nest, "Fine..."

* * *

It was difficult to cook for a speedster, especially one that's in their heat since his appetite seems to be ramped up - if that's even possible. But, Hal finds his ways, mixing in different breakfast meats and finding filling, high carb foods that could still pass as breakfast. Though, sometimes Hal had no idea what he was trying to make, since keeping track of several things cooking in multiple places was hard enough on its own.

But today, Hal somewhat knew what he was trying to create, which is better than doing it by the fly of his pants; that was a good thing, because he wasn't currently wearing any pants at the moment.

Hearing footsteps clammer into the kitchen, Hal pours hot water into the oats before adding several spoonfuls of sugar and cinnamon, then topped with previously cut fruits.

Hal heard Barry pouring the coffee into two mugs, before turning to the Lantern for the sugar. 

Sliding the jar over, Hal also pushed the bowl of oatmeal along with it. He felt a hand come to touch at his shoulder, turning him around to bring him into a chaste kiss. Once he pulled away, Barry murmured a 'Good morning' on his lips before a smirk grew on his face.

"Morning," Hal whispered back, kissing the blond's forehead, then making his way towards the refrigerator, making him remember that they still needed to take care of that freezer in their bedroom.

Tossing Barry the cream, Hal picked out some butter, a packet of bacon, sausages, and a couple of eggs, along with a few vegetables that seemed green enough to balance out the grease.

Turning on the stove, Hal placed a pan on the burner and tossed several strips of bacon on the fire first, then reached over for the bread. Plucking out four bread slices, he threw them into the toaster before asking Barry to find a can of kidney beans in one of the kitchen drawers.

Barry placed the two mugs and the bowl of oatmeal on the kitchen table, then went to go find that can of beans, while the pilot cut the sausages into small chunks of meat while he kept a close eye on the frying bacon. 

Picking out the bean can, Barry dusted it off and slid it over to Hal, looming around to silently state that he was there to help make breakfast if the brunette needed him to.

"Babe, can you beat the eggs and chop the greens?" Hal sweetly asked, earning a curt nod from the blond.

Once they were ready, the Lantern plated the crispy pig meat and moved to take the can of beans. Rinsing out the juice they've been soaking in, then grabbing the fresh toast, Hal pulled a butter knife from the dishwasher and cut a slice of butter to spread over the four slices of bread. When the slices were all coated with a thin layer of melted fat, Hal piled on the canned kidney beans, then seasoned them with some salt and pepper, grabbing the bottle of hot sauce last minute and adding a few dabs of hot sauce here and there.

"Bear, you done with the eggs?" Hal turned to the speedster, plate in hand.

"Yeah," Barry answered, wiping away some kind of mess he probably made from beating the eggs too hard.

"Good," Hal smiled, handing Barry the plate and turning him to the kitchen table, "Go eat the toast, the eggs will be out in a few minutes."

The blond beamed, "You're too good to me, chief." he placed a gentle kiss to the Lantern's cheek, then made his way to the table.

"What am I supposed to do? Let my omega starve?" Hal twirled to face the stovetop, he first pulled out two bread slices and toasted them. Then, he cracked his knuckles, before buttering the pan and pouring half the eggs into the sizzling heat, adding half of the chopped sausages and vegetables into the egg mixture. Scraping the edges until it was fully cooked scrambled eggs, he plates the meal right as the toast pops from the toaster.

Pouring the rest of the eggs into the pan, Hal placed the toast on the plate as he waited for the layer of egg to fully cook before dumping the remaining sausage pieces and vegetable bits onto the egg, and folding it in half. Lifting the omelet from the pan and depositing it on the plate, Hal scraped the smaller diced vegetable pieces and rained them over the omelet. Finally finishing off the plate with a few cranks of a pepper grinder and a sprinkle of salt.

Serving up the eggs, Hal placed them beside the bean toast, earning him a bright smile from the blond.

Alright, time to make his own breakfast.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, Barry was wearing one of Hal's loose t-shirts, some pajama pants, and slippers. 

There wasn't a huge height difference between the both of them, Hal being two or three inches taller than the speedster. But, what Hal had in muscle bulk, Barry did not, meaning the shirt was a bit wide on him. 

Though, the omega never seemed to mind, nor did the pilot, since he liked the look of Barry in his clothes - even if he occasionally complains about how much the blond steals his clothes. Barry's stolen his clothing so much it's gotten to the point that the brunette has found himself wearing some of Barry's outfits without realization.

"You're gonna wearing the suit I got you two years ago?" Barry scoffed, "I...don't think it'll fit."

"Why? I haven't changed  _ that _ much." Hal looked down at his bare body. He still hasn't put on anything other than some briefs.

"Hal, that suit fits me  _ really _ snug." Barry took a sip of his coffee.

"When was the last time you tried it on?" 

Barry lowered his mug, his fingers tapping on the mug material for a moment, "A few weeks ago."

Hal sighed, bringing his coffee to his lips and tipping the mug back to gulp down the last of his drink. "Well," Hal placed it down on the table, "Carol said it was formal."

"You can always borrow one of my suits. There's one with a grey blazer that makes my shoulders look wide."

"You think I'd look good in it?" Hal questioned.

"Hal, you could be wearing an ugly holiday sweater, those stupid speedos that are just a sock for someone's dick, with some socks and sandals, yet you'd still somehow strut it like you're a model on some catwalk." Barry sniggered.

"Hmm..." Hal thoughtfully hummed, tapping his index finger on his chin, "That's pretty extreme, even for me. But, that did boost my ego."

Barry openly laughed as he shakes his head. "You wear thigh-high boots and fight with a domino mask, honestly I don't question if you look good in anything anymore, I just know you'll flaunt it if I give you enough compliments."

"What's the saying again? 'The sexiest thing someone can do is be courageous' or something? Yeah, that's me." 

Barry pushed his chair back from the table as he giggles to himself. "C' mon, I'll show you the suit."

* * *

"How do I look?" 

"Like a playboy version of Bruce." 

Hal frowned, trying to tie the tie around his neck, "I do  _ not _ look like Bruce."

"You kinda do." Barry smiled, "Just need the black, slicked-back hair and black shoes, polished to perfection."

"Yeah, no." Hal frustratingly tossed the tie into a loop he made, "I get confused with Superman enough on the Green Lantern job."

"At least you aren't known for having a hearty appetite." Barry moved in closer, smoothing down the blazer and tucking in Hal's dress shirt into his pants. "Hmm...might wanna get a belt."

"Why? It fits nicely." Hal pulled on his tie and deemed it good enough since he hasn't tied a tie in such a long time.

"It doesn't matter if your pants fit or not," the blond walked to his closet, "professionals always have a belt around their waist...for some reason."

"Maybe because they put too much time in their work and don't feed themselves properly," Hal remarked under his breath.

"I heard that." Barry pulled a black belt with a silver buckle from his closet. "This'll work."

Strolling back to the brunette, Barry pushed the belt through the loops on the pants. The blond looked up, then pushed Hal's stomach in a bit before fixing the buckle in a hole.

"There we go."

Looking at the time, the clock read '8:38'.

"Bear, I gotta go now, but you should get changed." Hal pushed back the speedster.

"Okay, bye!" Barry waved to the pilot who was stumbling out of their room.

"Bye, love you." Hal waved back, closing the bedroom door on his way out.

The blond huffed a breath from his mouth, then speed changed into a more appropriate outfit for a forensic scientist.

A white-collared shirt tucked in his light tan trousers, held up by a brown belt, and finally, some well-fitted brown shoes. He's now ready for the day.

Tossing the door open, Barry found Hal still in the house; looking around the living room in a panicked manner.

"What are you looking for?" Barry raised an eyebrow.

Hal raised his head from the couch cushions, "The house keys." Hal placed back the cushions before he went to inspect what's on the coffee table.

"Well, where was the last place you put them?" 

"I dunno," the brunette patted himself down, "I usually have them on me."

The speedster thought for a second, tapping his chin with his thumb, then snapped his fingers when he had an idea.

Rushing back to their room, Barry checked the pockets of Hal's beloved leather jacket, and low-and-behold the key was hiding in one of them. Racing back outside, Barry held the key out to the Lantern like a prize, "Found it."

Hal smiled in relief, opening his hand for Barry to drop it in, "Thanks."

Barry grinned back, unlocking the door and holding it open for Hal to walk through.

Once they both were outside, Hal locked the door while Barry watched him, eyes trained on Hal's tie. "Hal," Barry spoke up, getting the brunette to look up at him when the door was locked.

The blond reached for the messily tied tie, unraveling it into one single strip of fabric. Adjusting its length, Barry overlapped the longer side over the shorter side, then passed it under where the tie loops around Hal's neck, creating a loop of its own, and finally pulling it down between the loop he previously made.

Straightening out the brunette's collar so it covers most of the tie tied around his neck, Barry dusted down the blazer with a sweep of his hand.

Spontaneously, the blond wrapped his fingers around his alpha's tie and pulled him down to steal a gentle kiss. Though the move was unexpected, it took all but a second for Hal to open his mouth and lightly bite down on the blond's bottom lip, causing the speedster to softly moan.

Pulling away from each other, Hal licked his lips, as trying to savor the taste of his omega's skin. Barry watched him lap at his lips for a moment, then brought them back into another kiss, this time much more innocent, lips pressed gently upon lips for their goodbye kiss.

They pull back for the last time, exchanging 'Bye's and 'Love you's as they part their separate ways to work.

'Eh,' Hal thought, 'he'll deal with the freezer when he gets home from work.'


	6. Peacefully

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry saves a brunette from drowning but doesn't seem to want to be saved when he's in danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This story contains themes of suicide and violence if you cannot read that sort of story, I highly recommend you do NOT read today's fic.
> 
> D6) Merman AU - Injured
> 
> When I started, I didn't think I was going to add suicide since I tend to like to keep writing more lighter subjects, but since one of today's theme is 'Injury', I decided to injure my soul by writing this.  
I hope you all enjoy!

Swirling around in the ocean, a blond merman swims around, unable to get the perfect angle to see the sun's rays getting reflected off of a stray piece of a mirror.

Swimming up, the merman grabbed the sharp object, inspecting its sharp point, the rigid edge, the manmade materials it's made of.

A small movement in the corner of his eye makes him go on high alert since he knew nothing but deadly creatures swam in this area.

Holding the piece of broken mirror in his right hand, the tight clutch causing it to dig into his somewhat rubbery flesh. His tail swaying front to back, his eyes scanning around in the cloudy waters. 

The sudden feeling of something grasping at his right bicep made him switch the mirror piece to his left hand, lifting his arm and having it come down on the creature's body that was behind him. Snapping his head back at what he stabbed, he realized it had gotten away since nothing was left but a trail of air bubbles in the direction of where it went.

Chills wracked through the merman's body as he brought his arms up to hug himself. The mirror piece reflecting his terrified self, as well as bouncing the sunlight that made it past the cloudiness of the water.

He was alone. Easy. Targetable. Even with his slightly built body after one too many hours of swimming away from natural predators, and just to swim in general, he was frail compared to the other creatures who have died.

* * *

"It's such a shame others can't see how they're ruining the planet." Barry shook his head as he carefully cut a stray fishing net around a rock with the sharp edge of his most recent find.

Sighing in satisfaction, the merman looked to the net in his hand, wonder what type of tool he could make from it.

Peeping from out from the cave, Barry looked both ways before hastily swimming out. 

Making his way towards more shallow waters, Barry surfaced from under the water after a few weeks of not seeing land. Pulling back his night-vision eyelids and looking up at the blue sky with its fairly fluffy clouds, the merman contemplated on why he ever decided to take his life.

The sky was beautiful, the rocks on land seemed like nature's art, the harsh UV rays of the sun getting soothed out by Earth's atmosphere.

If only people could see and interact with him, it would be like living a dream. But dreams never last without nightmares, and nightmares were what Barry faced while alive.

Shaking his head at the thought of flashing back on his past-life, the blond proceeded to swim towards the rocky bay. No one was currently around, though, he guessed it didn't matter if anyone was around or not since he wouldn't be seen either way.

His flowy tail gracefully gliding just underneath the water current, his arms at his side, as his tail propelled him closer to the rocks.

Before he could touch the slimy, rough surface of the algae-covered rocks, a body came hurtling through the sky. Flying through clouds and casting a light shadow over the ocean waves, Barry was impressed that he caught the flying body in his peripherals.

Arching over the ground, the body seemed to change colors and clothing as it loudly slashed into the water. 

Staring at the spot where the body was dunked for a few seconds, Barry waited for a head to resurface, mouth slightly agape while he waited...and waited...and waited... Nothing.

Diving into the water, head-first, Barry hurriedly swam near the spot the creature sunk.

Sliding his night-vision eyelids over his eyes, Barry spotted a body in the murky waters, completely dying the water around its form with its blood.

Swimming towards what looks to be a being, the merman circled it, not knowing what to do.

Could he touch it? Should he touch it? He's never been in contact with someone who was drowning before. What should he do?

Wafting the blood-colored water away from his eyes, Barry touched the person's face. Webbed thumb coming over to lay upon a tan cheekbone, while his other fingers cup the person's face. 

They seemed unconscious.

Staring at the body for a few seconds with knitted brows, the blonde debated on helping. He's helped animals who’ve swum a bit too far from freshwater before, sure. But, a human? Never.

Nevertheless, they are still living. So, before he could even think of a coherent plan, Barry took a deep breath of oxygen through his gills, then moved to breathe it into the human's mouth, in hopes that the human hasn't died yet.

Afterward, the merman slid his arms underneath the person's armpits and proceeded to haul the human's body to the surface, dragging them to the shore.

Throwing them onto the rocks, Barry climbed up the boulders himself and looked over the human. He checked for a pulse on the person's wrist, luckily there was one, unfortunately, the guy's skin was cold, meaning it would be harder for him to wake up.

Upon closer inspection, the man seemed vaguely familiar. They were a male with somewhat tan skin, some nice brown hair, and some soggy wet clothes.

Telling just by the wet shirt clinging to his chest, he had muscles that could be compared Aquaman's. It was enough to make Barry blush and push back his wet hair that was sticking to his forehead.

The person's blood was leaking from his body, he needed something to stop the bleeding.

Jumping back into the water, Barry pulled his night-vision lids over his eyes to spot ribbons of kelp dancing near the surface. Quickly, he pulled the leaves off the stems and carried them back to the rock.

Tossing a load of kelp over, he mounted the rock once again and promptly began to cover up the leaking wounds with the seaweed.

Fanning it around to get rid of the loose droplets of water hanging on the leaf, Barry then plastered it on the injuries.

Though it probably still had salt on it, it's better to not have to deal with gushing blood and blood deprivation when the man was still onshore.

The man's short sleeve shirt made it easier to cast the wounds on his arms, but the blood-stained his white shirt red, at least that's not fatal.

With his legs, Barry wrapped the guy’s loose jeans tightly over his legs and placed some seaweed on his pants to keep them in place.

After he was done, Barry noticed the guy hasn't exactly moved since he brought him onto the rock. 

Should he do CPR? Did the guy swallow some water? Well, he _ was _drowning...

Sweeping the chocolate-colored hair from the man's face, Barry blinked at the highness of the person's cheekbones, how many scars slashed through the tender flesh that covered the brunette's face, and how chiseled he looked.

Fuck... This isn't a good time to crush on a human. Not that there is a good time to ever have a crush on anyone...

Shaking his thoughts away, the blond started pressing down on the man's chest, in hopes of pushing out any water from their lungs.

Placing both hands on the man's chest, the merman leaned his body weight into pushing down on the brunette, then released so the chest could slowly rise.

"C' mon health lessons, don't fail me now..." Barry murmured to himself.

After doing the same motions for what felt like forever and beginning to worry he might break some of this guy's ribs after every compression, Barry realized it might be better to give him mouth-to-mouth as he compresses his chest.

Grunting, he moved one of his hands to pinch at the man's nose, while the other one stayed on his chest. Prying open the person's mouth, Barry breathed in a breath of oxygen and laid his lips over theirs, steadily breathing into the man's mouth, seeing the recently compressed chest rise.

Breathing another breath into their mouth, he went back to placing chest compressions onto the man. "Come on, you got this... Just take a breath."

Pulling his other hand to the guy's chest, Barry practically laid over the man's body as he tried pushing down, then hearing a split second of a crack, and feeling a rib break under his palms.

Shit.

Hastily pulling back, Barry's eyes went wide in panic. 

What the hell was he supposed to do now!? He just broke their ribs! Should he stop? Can he continue? Are they alright!?

Whipped his head back and forth to try and find someone who he could pull over and get them to call for help, but no one was around. Looking back at the man, Barry sucked in a deep breath, knowing he should probably continue.

Hesitantly placing his hands back onto the man's chest, Barry began pumping his chest again. Occasionally locking their lips together and adding oxygen into the man's lungs.

* * *

"C' mon... C'mon... I know you can do it... Don't die on me..." Barry kept repeating as he added more compressing against the brunette's chest.

The sun was beating down on Barry's pale skin, it's rays sliding over his rubbery skin as it soaks up the moist droplets running down every curve and edge of Barry's body. Why couldn't he have pores like humans? Then he'd be able to sweat instead of becoming ash.

Feeling himself drying up, Barry continued to do his CPR on the man. It's been more than half an hour and the only progress he's made so far was getting a few coughs that carried out saltwater and two more broken ribs.

Then, breathing in another breath into the man's mouth, he quickly added a few more compressions and got another cough of water, and the person slightly tilted their head as they made a small whimper.

Gasping in excitement, Barry pressed another compression, feeling the man's chest rise more quickly this time.

Barry placed his hand near the man's nose and mouth, unable to feel a breath from the guy.

"Breathe, come on. Please breathe," he told the guy, adding more compressions and receiving more powerful breaths every time, but still no breathing from the man's nose.

Pinching the guy's nose again, Barry gave one last breath to the man, before having the brunette turn his head away and throw up some water.

"That's it!" Barry encouraged the man, pushing down on his chest as he spat and coughed out more saltwater from his mouth.

Slowly, his eyes clammed together as his arms raised a bit.

Pushing the man over on his stomach, Barry watched as he threw up the remains of what looked to be his lunch, along with all the water that got in him.

Wincing a little at how in pain the man sounded and looked, Barry stayed a little longer to make sure the guy could open his eyes.

The brunette pulled his hands to his eyes and pressed down on them as he squeezed out and wiped away the water. He finally blinks open his eyes and his nose de-crinkling as Barry scoots himself near the curve of the boulder, keeping his sight on the brunette.

The man's vision was hazy at first, but it got cleared up in time as he turned his head to see Barry leap off the rock and diving into the ocean.

"Hey!" the brunette shouted at Barry, reaching out to try and grab his tail, but completely missing, "Come back! Who--Who are you!?"

Swimming into the deep, dark abyss of the ocean, Barry slid on his night-vision eyelids and made his way towards the bottom. Only stopping to hear the guy's voice for a second, before reluctantly turning towards a cave and staying in the dark hole.

Laying his head against the cold, stone wall to the cave, the blond realized the man could see him. The man could see him, unlike everyone else.

The thought scared Barry more than anything. 

What could he do with that knowledge? How can he be the only one who can see him? Is he dead as well?

A shudder crawled up Barry's form, he decided to wait a while before creeping back out of the cave.

It's safer that way.

* * *

"Arthur please!"

"Hal." the blond turned around to look him dead in the eyes, "Full mermaids aren't real."

"But--you don't understand, I-"

"You saw one," the king rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I heard you the first hundred times."

Hal's brows furrowed, "If you have, then why aren't you helping me?"

"Because, Hal, full mermaids are folklore. They were made up by drunk sailors who couldn't tell the difference between a grey manatee, to a beautiful woman with a tail!" Arthur cleared his throat, "Half mermaids on the other hand-"

"It wasn't a half mermaid though." Hal snapped, "It pulled me onto a boulder, and jumped into the ocean with its tail!"

"That's ridiculous," the blond murmured.

"Why?! How is that ridiculous?!" the brunette all but growled, "You're a human that has been born with the ability to control fish, the power of telepathy, and you can breathe through your--" Hal simply gestured to Arthur, "gills, or something..."

"A mermaid in Atlantis is the equivalent to a ghost on land. We have several questionable encounters, but it's not a big deal."

"**NOT A BIG**\--" Hal huffed a livid breath through his nose, "Fine if you aren't gonna be any help, I'll just search the ocean myself!"

A burst of green energy exploded from Hal's ring before he flew off into the sky.

Watching from the ground, Arthur shook his head, not having enough persistence in his soul to stop the Lantern.

* * *

Flying to the place where the ocean meets the rocks, Hal looked over the waves. He wasn't expecting to find the mermaid that easily, and...well, he was right. There weren't any mermaids insight.

After flying a few miles from the shore, Hal decided it probably made more sense for mermaids to live underwater, since they seem like mythical creatures, even to the king of Atlantis.

Pulling his arms to his side and his feet together, Hal plunged into the water with a big splash. With his ring keeping breathable air around him, Hal was sure to find the mermaid.

Shining a light through the water, Hal scouted the area. At first, he worried that he might scare a few sea creatures, but the more he explored that part of the ocean, the more he noticed that the water was just full of microorganisms. There most likely weren't any big creatures around in a 100-mile radius, which was extremely suspicious.

The sudden realization dawned on him that, a mermaid _ must've _been around, or else Hal would've drowned. There wasn't a single animal that could live here, not with the water being this dirty, and it just didn't make any sense for a pack of microbes to throw him onto a boulder.

It had to be a mermaid.

Swimming a bit deeper, Hal caught sight of something wiggling around in the water, something big...well, bigger than a microbe at least.

“Hello?” he twisted around, flashing his ring around to find no one. 

The feeling of hands laying upon his shoulders made him whip around, finding nothing but a trail of air bubble leading to where the culprit escapes. 

“Ha!” Hal forced out a laugh as he started following the trail. Whatever this creature was wasn't exactly smart by coming and touching him.

Gliding along the path of bubbles, he halted when he came face-to-face with a cave. Beaming his ring into the darkness, Hal spotted something hiding behind a large rock.

Swimming closer, the brunette held his arms up to show he was unarmed, well temporarily. “Hello? Hey, who are you?” he asked, inching forward slowly as to not scare the creature.

Unsurprising, he got no response. 

“I’m not gonna hurt you, I just wanna know what you are.” craning his head to the side, peeking behind the rock, there sat a merman, or what Hal assumed was a merman. His short, blond hair was swaying in the water, while his blue to red ombré tail was laid out in front of him, his scales going from his chest down to his tail, though, his back was exposed for some odd reason.

“Barry?” Hal breathed, his voice coming out softer than he intended it to.

The merman turned to him, his eyes widening as his pupils dilated. Jumping up as he waved his tail a few times in surprise. 

“Oh my god… Barry?” Hal was nearly tearing up, “Holy shit… Barry…”

“I’m sorry, who are you? What are you doing here? How are you talking? How are you breathing?” the blond bombarded him with questions.

“Barry,” Hal raggedly choked out, “Oh my god...the whole League...your family...I--We all thought…”

“Who are you?” the merman demanded, making Hal’s heart split in half.

“You don't remember me?”

The merman seemed to tense up, his fist balling up in preparation for a fight, but he slowly backed down when he saw Hal’s face fall. “I--uh...am I...supposed to?”

The brunette’s mouth fell, his heart crashing to the ground, he felt tears sting the back of his eyes, though if he were to cry now he guessed Barry wouldn't notice since they were underwater. 

“I don’t...are-” Hal straighten out his mouth to just a frown, “Is...are you...Barry Allen perchance?”

The man blinked twice, his facial expression shifting ever-so-slightly in resemblance to his emotions, “I--why?”

“I just…” Hal looked away, knowing he couldn’t face the merman, not like this. Clamming his eyes shut for a second, the brunette looked back to the blond with a glint of sorrow, “Nevermind, I--I thought you were...someone I knew.”

“Who-” the blond flicked his eyes from side-to-side, reaching out, the merman quickly plucked Hal from where he was floating and dragged him behind the rock. Shushing the brunette, he pressed his body against the boulder, looking to the exposed side of the rock.

Before Hal could ask what was going on, a low voice rang through the water. “Barry… I know you’re around here.”

Hal’s eyes enlarged, knowing that voice from anywhere.

“Barry, I know you're somewhere. You’re _ always _somewhere.” the voice grew gruff when it growled the last of its words.

As if on cue, Barry placed a hand over Hal’s chest to stop him from jumping out from behind the rock. Twisting his body to peer over the boulder, the blond quickly ducked his head, making no further movements in fear of making a noise.

After a few minutes of complete silence, Barry’s hand grabbed hold of a rock it was hovering over for a minute and a half. Then, in a whirl of bubbles, Barry was in a ready-to-fight stance, exposing himself to the person.

“Allen.” the voice dipped several octaves lower, causing a subtle shiver to lick up Barry’s spine, “So fast to reveal yourself today? Don’t tell me you were _ waiting _for me to come to you.”

“Fuck off, Eobard.” Barry spat, his hand squeezing the rock in his hand tighter.

“While you’re in such a vulnerable position? Don’t push your luck, Barry.”

Before he could react, Hal had a whoosh of foam pass his face. With his eyes, he followed the bubbles to see Barry pinned down against the cave wall, the other merman holding what looked like a long metal rod.

“I know how you just absolutely adore manmade objects.” Eobard pulled his arm back, angling it downward, and as Hal lunged from the boulder, Eobard drove the rod right into Barry’s tail.

A loud cry rippled out of the cave before Hal could shoot out a construct from his ring to try and whack Eobard, but the construct complete fazed through the villain.[1]

“So, that was why you were standing in the middle of the cave, huh?” Eobard shoved the stick deeper into Barry’s tail with a firm push of his palm.

“**DON’T TOUCH HIM**!” Hal roared, his eyes narrowing down to slits at the man.

“Always have to be a hero, don’t you, Barry?” he grunted.

“**GET AWAY FROM HIM**!” Hal shouted, but it didn’t seem to bother the man one bit. Eobard just shot him a sly smirk, before phasing through the cave wall with Barry in tow.

Without a second to waste, Hal flew out from the cave, spotting a diminishing trail of bubbles located just behind the cave. Chasing after the bubbles, Hal stopped once he was facing Eobard, Barry thrown down somewhere behind him.

The Green Lantern’s ring flared in furiousness, realizing that the villain now didn’t have a tail, instead, having it replaced with legs a bubble around his form.[2]

“Hal.” the speedster greeted him lightly, though his voice was all but light. 

“Get away from him.” a giant fist constructed around Hal’s hand.

With a single blink, the man’s expression changed to a devilish grin, “You’re worried I might kill him, aren’t you?” Eyeing Hal’s construct as it glowed a brighter, making the speedster’s smile widened, “You’re scared, aren't you?”

“Not scared enough to-” Hal threw his fist construct at Eobard, which the speedster easily avoided, “do that.”

The blond cracked another grin at the brunette, growing a tail again to tear through the water, then letting it separate into two legs as he grabbed hold of Hal by the neck. “Pathetic, Lantern. I honestly thought you were smarter.”

“How’d you--”

“Grow a tail?” he completed the Lantern’s question, “It’s something called the Negative Speed Force, Jordan.”[3]

Making a green bubble around his body, Hal blew it out to make the speedster let go of him and fly back. Doubling back, the blond grew his tail again, zooming towards the Lantern who was rushing to check up on his friend, finding the rod was removed from his tail and plunged into his abdomen.

The blond’s tail disappeared when he crashed up against the brunette’s side, plowing him into the seafloor. Hal had enough time to get in a few punches before getting the air knocked out of him when he hit the ground. Pulling himself from the speedster’s grip, Hal wrapped the man in a net before he zipped towards Barry, drawing him into his arms, Hal only had a moment to turn around and spot the other speedster coming at him.

Eobard switched from human to mermaid last second, colliding against the speedster and getting the rod to tear through Barry’s body and shoot out his back. The merman let out a wail of pain when the rod broke through his spine without any warning, going limp in Hal’s arms.

Flying back and away from Eobard, Hal couldn’t risk putting Barry into danger again. Shooting up from the water, Hal knew he had to get Barry to the med bay, but before he could even reach cloud level, the merman in his arms was squirming.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you. You’ll be okay.” Hal softly cooed into his ear.

“No, put me down! Put me down!” the merman sobbed, the only thing he could do since he was too weak to fight back.

“Don’t worry, I’m taking you to the med bay, I can fix you up there.” Hal made sure to keep his voice gentle and even.

“**NO**! No, Hal, you don’t understand.” his body pushed all the strength he had to just pitifully shaking as he cried. The Lantern stopped mid-flight when he heard his name escape from the merman’s lips, his head turning down to look at the blond. “Please...put me down…”

“Is it water you need?” Hal asked, earning him a shake of the man’s head.

“Please, just...just put me down… I--I don’t want to go back.”

“Go back?” the brunette’s eyebrows knitted together, “Barry, you...you don’t have to rejoin the League if you don’t want to.”

“No,” the blond weakly said as he shook his head slowly this time, “No, Hal. I just--I just want to die. I just want to die peacefully.”

“Barry…”

“No, please. Just--just please put me down. I never wanted to become a mermaid.” Barry choked out, “I never wanted to become a speedster. I never wanted all of this to happen…”

“Barry, but...everyone who knew you...everyone-”

“They’ve gotten over m-”

“**NO**!” Hal shot back, clutching tighter to Barry’s form, “Not all of us! Wally sure as hell didn’t! The League’s still upset, Iris is still in sorrow, and...and...and _ I _missed you, Barry.”

Blue eyes seemed to soften up while his whole body became laxer, “I missed them too… I missed _ you _too. But, I can’t live forever. I’ve lived long past my lifespan, I shouldn’t even be alive right now…”

“Barry?” Hal felt his fingers sink into the merman’s scales, his body becoming much lighter in weight, “Barry?! Please! Stay with me!” The blond raised his hand to touch at the brunette’s tan cheek, a small smile painting over his lips as his eyes struggle to stay open. “Please…” Hal hiccuped, “Don’t do this to me...not again…”

“Hal…” Barry dragged his thumb over his cheekbone, “Just remember me, okay?”

“Barry…” Hal choked out, thickly swallowing while a tear fell from behind his mask, “Barry, I love you..”

The blond kept his smile as he closed his eyes, his face turning white and frothy. The foam slipping from the Lantern’s arms to drop into the ocean waves. 

Hal slowly floated down, dipping his body into the water for a second to wash the rest of the seafoam from his suit, watching as it got carried off. Pulling himself from the ocean, Hal steadily flew back until the clouds got in the way of his vision. 

After one last long stare at the ocean, Hal began turning back, letting his uniform’s outline glow a vibrant green as he makes his way into space. Wiping a tear from his face, Hal sniffed and swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, taking a deep thought his mouth, the brunette stepped foot onto the Watchtower.

Barry deserves the best, and if that's what Barry wanted, then that’s what he gets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 Barry technically kissed Hal, meaning he can touch him, but not any other mercreature.  
2 Eobard is vibrating his body fast enough to create a giant air bubble around himself since he's currently in human form.  
3 I prompted anyone with the Negative Speed Force can step into a different universe with little effort, mainly because anyone with the ability to gain the power of the Negative Speed Force canonly can travel time with minimal effort. This means Eobard's shifting from himself, to his merman self in a different universe.


	7. Glad You Came

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry's not much of a partier, but when Iris drags the blond to another party, Barry ends up meeting a someone who makes the night a lot more bearable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D7) Wildcard - Wildcard
> 
> Last day of Summer Halbarry Week and I feel worn down...but in a good way. The week's prompts were - honestly - extremely challenging to combine together into one single story but dare I say...it was quite fun.   
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the last story for this week!

"Barry!" Iris yells, glancing at the clock to see that they there ten minutes behind on getting to the party. Groaning, she rolled her eyes. She would facepalm herself if only she hadn't worked for at least half an hour on her makeup.

"Iris, do I seriously have to go?" Barry whined from behind the bathroom door.

"What are your plans for tonight?" Iris sassily asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I was planning to study and stay in, until Monday peeks its head into my life, next week." the sound of rustling meant that he was changing, making her eyes roll once more.

"One of your New Year's resolutions was to be more social." she told him, "Yeah, don't you remember when you said that?"

There was a silence, then the bathroom door unlocked. Barry stepped out, looking as if nothing of him changed.

"Barry!" Iris huffed, "What were you doing in that bathroom for an hour?"

"Trying to avoid you..." Iris heard Barry mutter under his breath.

Her eyebrows furrowed in frustration, grabbing Barry's wrist, she dragged him to the front door, "We're late." 

"Good, then maybe I don't have to come with you after all." Barry pulled at his white-collar shirt until it came untucked from his pants.

Iris unlocked the door and pushed Barry out of the house, "Barry, you seriously don't have a life."

"Yeah? Well, the only reason you're going to this dumb party is because of Eddie." Barry crossed his arms like a three-year-old, grumpy and stubborn child.

Iris didn't respond to that one, just throwing Barry a glare that said, 'Yeah, well at least I have more of a life than you.' then pulled open the driver seat door and got in. Barry sighed, then reluctantly got in with her as the engine starts to come to life.

This was going to be one  _ long  _ night.

* * *

The doors shut behind him as he walks into the house.

The house reminded him why he never went to another party ever again after his first one.

Oliver's house didn't look like it used to. By that, he means that it doesn't look like toilet paper, sharpie, and barf decorated the walls like the last time he saw it.

Barry disliked Ollie with a passion, so he didn't even know why he let Iris drag him into this party in the first place. Or just in general, he didn't understand how Iris got him into the first house party Ollie threw.

Iris walked through the halls as Barry followed close behind her.

He could feel the vibrations of loud music in the living room. He reached out to Iris when she was going to turn a corner, "Uh-Iris?" she looked to him, "I think I need to use the bathroom real quick."

Iris shot him a, 'Are you serious?' look, then took his wrist into her hand and practically dragging Barry into the living room, where he could feel his intestines start moving because of the music.

He would've thought he'd gone deaf if it weren't for the loud music blazing through his ears, sending his eardrums into the same state they go into when Barry accidentally leaves the volume on too high and plugs in his earbuds.

Iris pulled them through the crowd, he was assuming she was looking for Eddie. And low and behold, the blond boy was chatting up some other people who were around him, in a circle. Iris pulled him over to the group and introduced them to Barry. The blond merely waved at them before they got back into their conversation.

Iris listened and talked to the people with her normal social skills, while Barry lingered around outside of the group. When Iris started leaning and brushing against Eddie, Barry knew he needed to leave.

Not even excusing himself, he left and walked up to the snack table, which was conveniently at the corner of the room. Picking up a cracker, he inspected it then bit into it when he deemed it safe.

You never know what kind of drugs or alcohol people could sneak into foods and drinks at parties. Barry had to learn the hard way.

He continued to stuff his face with food, pulling out his phone to find something to do. Scrolling through social media, Barry found himself on Instagram, liking photos and reading tags.

Not many people paid attention to him. Okay, that was a lie, no one paid any attention to him. So when he heard someone say something, he didn't look up from his phone, but when a red party solo cup got shoved into his view, Barry looks up from his screen, coming eye-to-eye with a brunette that was offering him a cup.

He's seen the brunette hang out with Ollie before. But, it was usually from far away, and he never interacted with the guy until now. Barry was always told that the brunette was a troublemaker, along with Ollie. But, Barry never caught the name of the person standing right in front of him.

Eyeing it suspiciously, Barry shook his head, declining the drink; for he didn't want to get wasted, or just taste alcohol for that matter.

The brunette looked at him, then to the cup, then shrugged, downing the drink on his own.

The blond watched as the cup tipped up, then back down as the person grinned at him. Barry offered a shy smile back, looking around for Iris if he needed to bolt to anyone. The person just thoughtfully looked at him as he played with the red cup that was still in his hands.

"What's up?" they yell, trying to make conversation with him.

Barry shrugged, then pointed up to the disco ball that was twirling on the ceiling with only a thin string that looked as if it could snap at any second.

He knew it was a dumb joke, but he didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

The person looked up at the ceiling, before turning his eyes towards the disco ball. His head gets thrown back suddenly, and when he turns to face Barry his face showed that he was laughing

"Good one!" he said, jutting up a thumb.

Barry smiles as a raven-haired girl slides up beside the brunette. The guy tenses, turning around and pushing the girl away at an arm's length.

His mouth was moving, but Barry couldn't hear what he was saying so, Barry tried shuffling away from the two.

Taking out his phone again, he started scrolling through posts once more. Before reaching out to feel for some food on the table, and feeling a hand slap over his.

Pulling his attention away from his phone when the hand didn't leave. Glancing up, Barry met eyes with a person with silver-colored hair and ice blue eyes, the person gazed down at Barry with something that scared him.

Instantly pulling his hand away, Barry's eyes widen when the random person decided to lean closer into his personal space.

Barry's brain when into panic mode, forgetting everything and everyone around him, leaning farther away from the person to try to send them a message, that he wasn't interested.

When the man leaned even closer, Barry could smell something sharp on him. It was distinct, it was strong, it was...alcohol!

Pulling his phone up to cover his nose, Barry backed away from the man. That only made the guy come closer to him with half-lidded eyes and a lustful expression.

Barry didn't even know how far he walked back, but he soon bumped into the back of the brunette's...was that a leather jacket? Regardless, not knowing what to do - since he was trapped - Barry pressed into the brunette's back, even more, pulling his face as far as he could away from the drunken stranger.

The guy's face was a foot away from his own when Barry felt the person behind him move, making him fall backward and being caught between two arms that were wrapped around his waist, and a chest being pressed against his back.

He felt himself being hauled up before he could process what just happened.

"Yo! Dude! Lay the fuck off!" Barry heard someone shout.

Thinking it was directed to him, Barry shifted to pull away from the body, but the arms pulled him closer, pinning him to the person behind him.

Soon, he realized it was the brunette's arms that were wrapped around his waist, and he wasn't talking to Barry, rather, he was talking to the silver-haired man.

The brunette made a shooing motion, pulling Barry closer to him, making the blond furiously blush as he tried to wriggle out of the tight grip.

The silver-haired man didn't get the idea, eyes fixed on his prey as he leaned in closer to Barry. Pulling his head as far away from the smell of alcohol, the blond tried to pull the arms off of him as well.

This was not his night tonight, was it?

Suddenly, the feeling of being twirled around and arms dropping from his waist before Barry turned to see the brunette pointing a finger at the silver-haired man, and shouting at him as the loud music covered up his voice.

Backing away quickly, Barry attached himself up to Iris' side in an instant. The woman didn't seem to notice, already occupied with Eddie's hand holding hers'.

Barry wanted to walk off again, but he also didn't want the same moments to repeat themselves. So, he lingered around Iris for most of the party, as she doesn't give him even an ounce of acknowledgment. 

* * *

Breathing out a sigh, Barry felt the chilliness of the summer breeze start to nip at his skin.

He was outside, Barry couldn't find the will to go back inside and face the strobe lights that caused him to have a slight headache. Besides, it didn't feel too unbearable to be outside.

Pulled his knees up to his face, he stared up at the stars as they twinkle from a few million miles away.

Sighing again, the thought of being away from this party sounded like a dream to him. Sadly, Iris was his only ride home, he didn't have the keys, and Iris kept on telling him to 'Just go talk to some people'.

Barry scoffed at the memory, burying his face into his knees. Yeah, try to go fit in, you outsider.

Closing his eyes for a few moments, he could feel the cold wind brushing against his exposed skin as he crosses his ankle over the other, still shivering when another breeze hits him.

Despite the wind, Barry felt like he could rock himself to sleep on the bench.

It was quiet, and he liked it.

Rubbing his hands over his legs to keep them warm, Barry curled up even more when another breeze blew.

The sound of the front door opening and closing made Barry's head shoot up as his eyes fluttered open.

He looked to the door and saw the same brunette he saw earlier. He was holding a plate, with what looks to be a slice of cake on it. When he turned and spotted Barry, he stilled, then began to smile.

"Hey." he said, walking over to the bench, "This spot isn't taken, is it?"

Barry shook his head and watched as the brunette sat himself down.

"Would you like some cake?" the person asked, holding out the plate.

The cake looked delicious, but Barry didn't want to take any chances, so he shook his head.

The brunette gave a small smile as he pulled the plate back towards himself.

The two sat in silence, the only sound being the wind whistling soft tunes through the air and the sound of the brunette taking another bite of his cake.

Burying his head into his knees again, Barry turned to lay on his cheek to watch the brunette eat his cake and look into the night sky. Then, the brunette's head suddenly turned and caught Barry's eyes, the blond quickly looked away, but the brunette already saw Barry staring at him.

"What do you think of the party so far?" the person asked, tilting his head a bit to try and catch a glimpse of the blond's face again.

Barry simply shrugged, he didn't enjoy partying, especially since he made up a schedule for himself a few days prior.

The brunette tilted his head farther, "Was that a yes, or a no? I'm not that good at reading body language."

Barry lightly chuckled at that, turning his face back to the stranger's, he looked at the thoughtful expression he had on, "I... I'm not one to go to parties that much."

"Oh, not even birthday parties?" the man asked, eating another bite of cake.

Barry shook his head in response. He wasn't one to get invited to parties a lot. Mainly because he didn't particularly like going to public social events, but also since he had few friends, so no one invited him to parties, since they were all somewhat introverted as well. 

The man hummed, licked some frosting off his lips, "Shocking."

"Well--" the stranger's eyes seemed to widen, "I mean--not in a mean way, like-'oh I can see why people don't invite you to their parties', way. I mean like, in an actual-'wow, I'm genuinely shocked', kinda way. Ya know?"

Barry just nodded as the person fumbled around on their words.

There was another silence until the guy piped up again, "So, how come you came to this party?"

Barry wondered for a split second if he should lie to this stranger, but then chose not to, "I--my friend dragged me here."

"Oh," he said, as a grin crawled up his face.

"Don't even know why. She's all over this guy and there was no reason to drag me along with her." Barry played with a string that was a bit too long on the cuffs of his jeans.

The guy took another bite of his cake, watching as Barry played with the string, "You never answered my question."

Barry looked up at him, not understanding what he had to answer.

"What do you think of the party?" the brunette asked, as he took the last bite of his cake.

Barry fiddled with a piece of string, "Eh...I'm mainly just here because my friend brought me as their plus one." he paused for a moment, then added, "and partially for the food."

The brunette laughed, picking up the frosting that remained on his plate with the side of his fork, and licking it off with one motion of his tongue.

Barry tilts his head, confused on what was funny, but decided not to ask.

Pulling his hand back from the piece of string, Barry wrapped his arms around his legs again, while his stomach growls for something to eat.

Barry missed lunch, and coming to this party made him skip dinner as well so the only things he's eaten so far were a few crackers. Man, he was hungry.

The stranger got up and held up a finger, "I'll be back in a second." then he climbed the stairs to the mansion, the sound of a door opening and closing was the indication that he has gone inside.

Huffing out a breath, Barry shivered from underneath his white collared shirt, even though it wasn't that cold, he pulled his legs closer to himself as he looked out into the darkness.

He always had this weird feeling about Oliver's house. It always felt like it held secrets, he'd only felt the same feelings one other time, and that was when he and his coworkers had to visit the Wayne manor to get the materials the Wayne Co. provided to them for one of their lab tests.

It felt like stepping into a whole other world. A world where secrets are in front of you, but you still walk past them. A place where you'd put some secret hideout or something. But, maybe that was just his brain overthinking things, maybe it was just the shock of how big these mansions are, so it concludes that there must be secrets hiding in plain sight.

Whatever the case, Barry always felt intimidated to try and explore, so he'd usually just follow the closest person to him around the mansions.

Letting out a yawn, Barry wondered how long he's been at this party. Flipping out his phone, he glanced at the time and realized that it was close to being midnight.

Well no wonder why he was tried, he barely had anything to eat and forgot his coffee on the way to work this morning.

His stomach growled again, pleading to be fed. Barry just looked down at it as if it just betrayed him.

"I know you're hungry," Barry patted his stomach, "but I can't risk getting another horrible hangover. Especially, since I have a lot of work to do tomorrow."

His stomach produced a low rumble as if it were talking back to him.

Barry sighed through his nose, "I'm probably gonna wake up late tomorrow, aren't I?"

Running a hand over his face, Barry realized that he just had a one-way conversation with his stomach. Geez, he  _ was  _ lonely, wasn't he?

Suddenly, the door opened and Barry buried his face into his knees once more. Feeling heat incased his face each time he breathes out.

There was the sound of the door closing, then footsteps walking down to the bench and stopping beside him; it was most likely the brunette boy.

The slight creek of the bench made Barry assumed that the guy has seated himself on the exact place he was before.  The sound of something being placed down onto the bench makes Barry a bit curious as to why the boy has brought something outside, and what has he brought outside?

There was a slight tap on his shoulder, making him look to the brunette, and beside him looked like a tray with a styrofoam plate, some plastic utensils, and what looks to be a disposable mug? 

He wasn't sure. But, since it looked like a paper cup with a handle attached to its side, so Barry assumed it was supposed to be a disposable mug.

"Uh--your name's Barry, right?" the brunette asked, shocking him a little.

He was a bit surprised that the stranger knew his name, even though Barry didn't know his. It wasn't like he went around talking to people and telling them his name. But also because he didn't even know this guy's name, and he's usually the one to know about a random person's name, while they didn't know he even existed.

Guess there's a first time for everything.

Barry just nodded as the guy let a smile slowly grow on his face, "Well," the person brought the tray up to the blond, making him straighten his legs so the person could place the tray on his lap, "since you only really came here for the food..."

Barry looked from one bowl to the other, as if it had been laid in front of him like he was some kind of royalty. The sight made his stomach growl loudly, making Barry blush a shade of red.

He looked to the brunette who gave him a wink in response before he leaned back into the bench and let his arm dangle behind the bench.

Barry looked to the food, inspecting it like it were a criminal. Looking back to the brunette, Barry saw the tiny grin the boy had on.

"Someone didn't uh--drug, umm, this food...right?" Barry awkwardly asked, making him feel like a paranoid old man.

The guy's eyebrow raised a bit as his grin lowered, "If you're asking what I did to the food, I didn't do anything but scoop it out from the containers that held the extra foods that couldn't fit into the serving bowls." the guy's head tilted to the left side, "If you're asking whether Ollie drugged the food or not, I'm not sure. But, just because I joke about him having a brain the size of his dick, I don't think he's  _ that  _ dumb to drug the food, especially since he knows it's for a party." the guy tilted his head to the right, making some of his hair brush against Barry's sleeve, "If your asking if any of the people from the party drugged the food, I really doubt it, since there's a chef in the kitchen, and he's known to be..." the brunette made a circular motion with his hand, "Uh--he's known to be a...a bitch."

"The only reason why he let me take the food was because he knew me." the guy motioned to the food, making Barry look at the food that was placed on his lap, "If it were anyone else, I bet he'd threaten them with a butcher knife or whack them in the head with a cutting board or a pan."

That made Barry breathe a laugh through his nose.

"So," the guy straightened his head, but kept his eyes on Barry, "my answer would be no, I don't  _ think  _ anyone drugged the food. But, the chef did complain about how little garlic there was in the guacamole, how poorly the pie was made and replaced the regular tortilla chips with black chips. That was mainly the reason why we let him make the cake. Don't worry about him drugging the cake though, he's a Gordon Ramsey about all things cooking, and would kill anyone if they were to mess with good food, whether it be putting drugs into it, or moving the lemon slice that hangs off a glass of water."

Barry didn't realize that a smile was slowly growing on his own face when the brunette continued to ramble.

"Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it. The chief wouldn't stop staring at me while I was scooping the food into the bowl. You can go ask the chief yourself if you think I poisoned the food or not." his rambling came to an end as he jutted a thumb back at the mansion.

"I'd rather not go back inside and have to suffer another headache, thanks," Barry responded, as he picked up a black tortilla chip and dipped it onto the guacamole.

"Strobe lights really that bad, huh?" the guy shifted so his knees bumped into Barry's as his posture looked like he was a laid back California surfer.

"I don't like parties." Barry shook his head as he popped the chip into his mouth.

"Huh..." the boy ran a hand through his hair, as his head tilted to the side a bit, "Then...what  _ do  _ you like?"

Barry shrugged, before taking a sip of the hot cocoa in the mug, instantly making his body heat up and feel comfortable.

The guy sighed, "I told you, I'm not fluent in body language." 

Barry grinned while he took another sip of the hot drink when a cold breeze blew, "I'm a boring person."

"Boring? Really?" he straightened out his posture so his arms rested at his sides, and his feet were brought together, "Well I like to read poetry, don't think you can top that."

Barry raised an eyebrow at that statement, "You read poetry?"

"I like reading Emily Dickinson's work." he says in a prideful tone, "English was one of my better subjects."

Barry hummed as he ate at a fried shrimp, wondering what other surprises this person held.

"Anyway, I kinda doubt you can top poetry reading." the guy looked at Barry for him to answer.

"Yeah, guess I can't..." Barry laughed, as he picked up a burger slider.

The guy placed his elbow on the backrest of the bench and rested his cheek in his hand, "So then, do you like to...read?"

"Yeah. Not poetry. But, yeah." Barry felt like he was opening up more easily to this person than to anyone else he's ever met, which was...a surprise, to say the least. "I also like science."

"Mhm..." the guy nodded in agreement as Barry sipped at his cocoa, "What topic?"

"Topic?" Barry asks, tipping the mug down.

"You know, like chemistry, astronomy, technology, engineering, biology, hydrology, forensic, medical, pharmacology, physics, psychology?" he listed the types while counting on his fingers.

"Oh well, I'm studying to be a forensic scientist, maybe a forensic investigator one day." Barry gave a short shrug as he took a bite of a slice of cake.

"Damn, sorry if this comes out rude, but... That's gonna be one hell of a salary." the guy seems more astonished than apologetic.

"It takes a while to become a forensic scientist or forensic investigator, so it makes sense," Barry says in between bites.

"Yeah, guess so." he softly replied.

Dropping the conversation, they sat in a comfortable silence, both thinking about different things.

"So," it was Barry who broke the silence this time, "what job do you want to have?"

The person seemed to come out of his thoughts as he ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair, "I'm training to become a test pilot, the medical test is gonna be next week." 

Barry slightly furrowed his brows, "A test pilot? Don't you need a bachelor's degree, serve for the military, and attend test pilot school for that?"

The brunette raises an eyebrow, "Don't  _ you  _ have to get a bachelor's degree, participate in lab work, and fulfilling an internship?"

Barry opens his mouth to retort, but finds himself speechless, so he ended up biting his bottom lip.

The brunette just gave the blond a shit-eating grin which ended up fading into a knowing smirk, "Hey, I don't blame ya for thinking that." he lightly hit Barry with the back of his hand, making the blond pick up a mini pie and bite into it, trying to hide his blush, even though the darkness was enough to make it almost invisible to see.

"Lots of people don't find me the most hardworking person out of a crowd." his eyes stare past Barry at a window behind him, "But, ya know. Let them believe what they want to believe." the brunette seemed a bit annoyed, but the emotion passed as soon as it came.

Barry swallowed a lump in his throat, feeling a bit guilty that he judged someone without knowing them first, "I'm...sorry..."

Hazel eyes caught onto blue ones, and the brunette's face seemed to soften. "As I said, I don't blame ya." he gave a gentle smiled to the blond.

"I just...I guess...I'm just-really sorry..." Barry mumbled, played with his plastic fork, before slicing off another piece of cake.

"Geez, you're more apologetic than all of my friends combined." the brunette stole one of Barry's chips.

The action made all of the guilt melt off the blond.

If it were anyone else, Barry would've batted their hand away, but since he was the one to bring Barry the food, he let the hand sneak into the chip bowl. It also just felt right to let the brunette steal his food.

Barry shot him a smile of his own and shivered when another breeze collided with his exposed skin.

The two shared a silence, as well as the food.

That is until the sound of the front door opened. Out came several people Barry didn't recognize, but as soon as he saw Iris shuffle out the door, hand-in-hand with Eddie, he knew they were leaving. But now, Barry didn't want to leave just yet. Not when he found a new friend.

The boys watched as the group of people exchanged goodbyes, hugs, and kisses.

Barry paid closer attention to Eddie giving Iris a kiss than what was necessary, which the brunette caught on to.

"Those your friends?" he asked Barry.

"More like one of them." Barry murmured.

He heard the brunette chuckle as he stole another chip, "Hey, one friend is better than none."

"She's extremely persuasive." the brunette could practically hear Barry roll his eyes just by his words.

"Is 'she' the ginger walking towards us with the blond guy in tow?" he asked, fixing his hair with his clean hand.

"Was it that obvious?" Barry sarcastically moaned, settling into the seat and eating the last of the cake on his paper plate.

Iris walked closer to them with Eddie, locked together by their elbows, "Well, well, well, is it true that the introvert found a friend?"

Barry scoffed at Iris' words and picked up his paper mug, "Shocking isn't it?"

Iris rolled his eyes but grinned anyway, "I see you have found someone out of your league."

"I'm outta everyone's league." the brunette butted in as he leaned back on the bench and placed his hands at the back of his head, "I'm just so shitty that I go right to the top of the charts."

"Hal Jordan ladies and gentlemen, the woman wooer and now, legal adult." Eddie joined into the conversation.

"That's right, I can now get drunk and not be told that it's illegal." Hal snapped and formed a finger gun with his thumb and index finger to point at the couple, then winked at Eddie.

"Sorry player boy, I'm taken." Eddie pulled Iris a bit closer to him. Complying, Iris snuggled closer into Eddie's body.

"I'm taken too." Hal placed his arm around Barry, making the blond's eyes widen and cheeks come aflame.

"Dating the party host, Barry?" Iris gave a smug grin.

Barry didn't know how to answer for the second time that night, so he kept quiet, making Iris snort, "Just meet me at the car, Bear."

With that, the couple turned away from the boys and made their way towards the parking lot.

"Bear?" Hal snicker, "That's adorable."

"You..never told me you were the party host." Barry let the words fall out of his mouth.

Hal froze, "I...thought you already knew."

"You came out of  _ your  _ party, avoided all the other people, and decided to talk...to me?" Barry felt his cheeks grow warmer every time he said a word.

Hal shrugged as if it were nothing, "I'm not one to celebrate my accomplishments."

"Wh-at was this party for?" the blond's voice cracked.

"Uhm...getting my dream job?" Hal replied with a sheepish grin.

"This was your party was to celebrate you getting to be a test pilot?" Barry placed his mug down on the tray.

Hal just stared at Barry in confusion, "Yeah? I-...I don't get it...is that suppose to be a bad thing?"

"I--heh, no...I just-...I never thought anyone would ever do that for me..." Barry played with his fingers since he was nervous, as his blushing continued to spread down his body.

"Well, I like to know that I'm not the only one getting something out of this...party." Hal's smile seemed to carve something into Barry's heart.

"You know what?" Hal took the stole the last chip and chomped on it, "I'm glad that Iris was so persistent."

"Oh?" Barry felt like he would explode from the heat on his face, "Why's that?"

"Because if she wasn't, I wouldn't have gotten to meet you," Hal smirked, picking up the mug and handing it to the blond.

Barry awkwardly took the mug in hand and stared at Hal, feeling as though his eyes were shining, making a dopey grin break out on his face.

"You know what?" Barry pulled the mug closer to him as Hal raised an eyebrow, "I'm thankful that she is, too, but I'm not happy that she is." 

That made Hal laugh as he brushed a strand of brown hair from his face. He reached for the napkin that the paper plate was sitting under, and took a pen out of his pocket.

Barry watched with curiosity as Hal scribbled down some numbers and added something to the corner of the paper napkin.

Handing Barry the napkin, Barry looked over the paper and realized that Hal wrote down his number, and doodled something in the corner. For some reason it made Barry shy away from the brown-haired boy, and grip the napkin close to his heart.

"Call me some time, yeah?" Hal got up and picked up the tray, afterward offering Barry a hand. He nodded before he took Hal's hand and got pulled up from the bench.

Gripping at his drink and the napkin, Barry walked with Hal towards the front door in comfortable silence.

"Cya later, Bear~" Hal took Barry by surprise by using his nickname, making him still and awkwardly gape.

Hal chuckled, as if he was expecting that response, then casually waved at Barry. Waving back, Barry watched as the brunette disappeared inside the mansion before he snapped out of his stare and shuffled around a bit before he made his way towards the parking lot.

Iris was waiting for him, but for once, she didn't seem to want to rush him. She just leaned her elbow on the roof of her car and shot Barry another smug smirk of hers', which made the blond roll his eyes and motion for her to just get in the car.

When the two got seated and buckled up, Iris cranked up the AC. Barry never thought the cold felt so good, but after that whole fiasco of blushing, it started to cool down his cheeks enough for him to be comfortable.

"So, you finally found someone?" she pointed to the napkin that was held between Barry's hand and his mug.

"He's just a friend," Barry told her but gazed down at the numbers before hiding it away.

"Sure he is." Barry didn't like the way Iris rolled her eyes and made it sound sarcastic.

Elbowing Iris in the ribs, Barry just said, "Hurry up and drive."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before ending off this week, I'd like to thank you again to Muffinbutton18 and barryshal for helping me with the stories and listening to me nagging on and on over my plots, along with the whole Halbarry server for dealing with my confused, conflicted, and overall annoying self. I'd also want to thank you to those who've read all the chapters since it means so much to me that people actually enjoy the content I like to post!  
So, thank you, to anyone who is reading this!

**Author's Note:**

> I am open to any kudos, comments, questions, or constructive criticism!  
Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day!


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